Mad World
by Rational Lunacy
Summary: After being tortured into insanity by Orochimaru, Naruto mentally regresses to the age of 7 and forgets everything about his life. Two years later, when Sasuke finally comes home, he sees Naruto and tries to make him remember. complete
1. Chapter 1

Full Summary: When Naruto and Sakura and Sai and Yamato finally found Sasuke, they almost managed to convince him to come home. But in a moment's hesitation he sided with Orochimaru, only to have his 'master' torture Naruto for three long days in a genjutsu 'alternate dimension'. In this alternate dimension, Naruto was relentlessly tortured with excruiating pain, and shown images of Sasuke beaten, killed, all because of him. Occasionally during his stay he would be given a brief moment of peace where he 'wakes up' in a world where Sasuke never left, and they're the best of friends, only to take him back to the hellish nightmare he started in. Due to all of this Naruto pushed everything and everyone he knew away in his mind and regressed the mental state of a seven year old. When this was discovered upon his awakening in the hospital after the failure of their mission he was placed in the sanatorium.

The story starts with the successful capture of Sasuke, which is AU and takes place two years later...

**IMPORTANT: **

Um, I lied. It is being revamped. :) This is the original version of this story, unedited, unchanged. If you would like to read a newer improved version, go read my newest story 'Sweet Parody', same storyline, just better.

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Mad World**

Chapter 1 - Flower Girl

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Naruto was quite happy that day. After all, it was spaghetti day in the cafeteria, he got to go to his art group and color, and flower girl was coming to see him. He liked flower girl. He sat down at his favorite table in the cafeteria and dug into his spaghetti with enthusiasm. The cafeteria was slightly chilled, because the air conditioning didn't work the right way, so it was overly cool instead of just right. But Naruto didn't care. He was quite used to the chill as his art group took place in the basement art room. The high ceiling loomed over him as he looked up through the pretty skylights. The room was long and rectangular, with smooth white wash walls. There were no windows except for the ones in the ceiling, and they let in minimal light. Mostly the place was illuminated by narrow track lighting covered in plastic. Flies flitted about, stuck within their new prison, much like those humans below them. At the wall farthest from the door was the lunch line, where behind a thick pane of glass the cooks worked. A small hole in the glass at the bottom near the counter was where the food was passed through and placed on the patient's plate. Large metal picnic like tables were arranged in uniform rows, children and adults alike dotting them, sprinkled throughout the room in either small groups, or remaining alone. Naruto had sat down at his favorite table which was closer to the door, his back to the entry way. The sun shone through the skylights down onto his face, and Naruto liked to think that the sunshine warmed him a little.

"Hello Naruto, how are you today?" A familiar voice greeted.

Naruto spun around, a look of absolute glee spreading across his face, "Flower girl!"

There she was, standing before him smiling as usual. Her short pink hair was held back by her funny headband she liked to wear, and her green eyes were gleaming. She was in her plain white work outfit, so he guessed she'd just left the hospital for her daily lunch with him. But she had the afternoon off today, so that meant she got to come to art group with him. Naruto clambered off of the bench he sat on and threw his arms around flower girl excitedly. When she didn't hug him back, Naruto pulled away feeling confused and slightly hurt.

"Guess what I brought for you today Naruto?" Flower girl smiled even more brightly.

"A coloring book?!" He gasped, getting anxious to head to art group at the thought of having a new coloring book. His feelings of hurt were immediately washed away.

Flower girl nodded and handed it over. This one had all different kinds of animals in it; unlike the last one she gave him which only had kittens and puppies. He eagerly flipped through the pages as he sat down in his original spot, already deciding which ones he was going to color first. Naruto lifted a leg back over the bench so he could continue eating his spaghetti while he looked at all the different animals. Flower girl sat down on the other side of the table, facing him. When she didn't start telling him about her day at the hospital like she usually did, Naruto glanced up at her in confusion. They had a very clearly defined routine. Naruto like routines, they were the same. He liked things that stayed the same.

"Why so quiet flower girl?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, there's a very important friend of mine that came home a few days ago from a very long trip."

"So you won't be able to stay after lunch?" He frowned expectantly.

"No, that's not it. It's just that I've told him so much about you that he'd very much like to meet you."

"Oh, well sure! I like flower girl's friends!" Naruto nodded.

"Would you mind if after lunch I went and got him? So he could come with me to your art group today?" Flower girl looked anxious, as though Naruto would say no. Naruto thought this was silly of Flower girl; he'd met all of her friends and liked them very much. She had nice friends. Why would this one be any different?

"Of course! I would love to meet him." Naruto smiled at her and took another big bite of spaghetti.

Flower girl smiled back, but not with her usual enthusiasm. Naruto frowned at her and reached for her hand. She offered it hesitantly. As he held her hand, Naruto watched her face, examining her expressions as they changed fluidly from one to the other. She looked sad, anxious, excited, and afraid. Naruto decided that she looked like a whole bunch of grown up emotions, but mostly sad.

"Flower girl, what's wrong? You look sad."

"I'm not sad, just tired. I've been working hard at the hospital lately." Flower girl offered him another grin, this one even less happy than the one before it. Naruto nodded, to appease her, but he really didn't believe a word she'd said.

Abruptly the bell rung that signaled the end of lunch, and Naruto stood up, gathering his lunch mess and his new coloring book. He threw away his mess and went around the table to hug Flower girl who had yet to stand up. She hugged him back, and before letting him go she gave him an extra squeeze. He then hurried back to his room; he just remembered that it was a bit messy. He'd left his pajamas all over the floor, and he didn't want his counselor to become angry with him. It was one of the things he was now required to do as a part of his daily tasks, keeping his room clean. It was a way to show responsibility, his counselor had said.

Once in his room, Naruto set down his coloring book and set about arranging his room so it was neat and tidy. It was sort of odd having his room clean all the time, but at the same time it was nice to have another 'task' to do. It meant he had another opportunity to earn a star during the day. All of the other kids like him had a points system they followed. Depending on the number of tasks they had to do a day, they had a matching number of stars they could earn. If saved up, stars could be used for things like (if allowed, certain rewards varied depending on the kid and their restrictions) going out into the village or extra desert at dinner. Naruto always saved his stars; he never could quite choose what he wanted to use them for. If you acted out though, you lost stars, and sometimes you got a red dot which was very bad and meant that certain privileges were taken away. Naruto was proud to say that he had never gotten a red dot though he had lost a few stars, but only for little things like not cleaning his room or talking back to his counselor. Finally, having glanced at the clock, it was time for his art group. Naruto picked up his coloring book and hurried out of the room towards the basement.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this Sasuke?" Sakura asked. It was almost like she was trying to persuade him to change his mind.

"Hn."

It had been only a week since the controlling spell Orochimaru had put on him had been dispelled. For the first three years he'd been gone, Sasuke had been willingly serving under Orochimaru. But then, two years ago when Sakura and Naruto had managed to find him, they'd nearly convinced im to come home. Then, it was like he was asleep, watching someone else act for him. He had been under Orochimaru's control for the next two years, and suddenly Sakura came in with two anbu members he didn't know and banished the spell. In a whirl of chaos, Orochimaru had been killed. And now here he was back in Konoha, on probation and in a village very different than the one he'd left behind. Naruto was in the sanatorium on the outskirts of town, had been there for two years. Orochimaru had been the cause of his placement there. At first, when Sakura had told him about Naruto's location, and the cause for it, Sasuke had simply scoffed. She had to be joking. This was some kind of sick joke they were pulling on him, like a prank. Naruto was the village prankster after all. But no, all of his old friends...(well, they were never really his friends, more his peers) confirmed the situation. They all visited Naruto in the sanatorium on a regular basis, and were known to him as Sakura's friends.

Sasuke wasn't sure he liked being 'home'. It was extremely awkward. He was welcomed by no one. In fact, Sakura had been the one he'd woken up to, but to her alone. At first, it was like deja vu, like he'd just been knocked out during training, and been sent to the hospital to get a simple check up. Of course, Sakura, his most faithful stalker, was the one to be in his room when he'd woken up. It made perfect sense. It had all been a bad dream. He had even looked around the room for Kakashi, who was ultimately not there. It was Sakura's hair that had somehow clued him in. It was so much shorter, and her face was more serious. Sasuke would dare to say that the expression on her face was one of regret. As though she sincerely wished she'd never gone after him. Well fine, he wished she hadn't either. She'd explained all of what had happened to him, how when they'd tried again to come after him they'd first encountered Orochimaru's dead body. Sasuke had been sitting nearby, bloody and bruised with his sword in his shaking hand. He'd been a confusing, if not pitiful sight, knees pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. The controlling jutsu had just worn off. He'd been partially under when he'd killed Orochimaru. The spell had been fading, and Sasuke took advantage of it to kill the sod.

If Sakura's disappointment and frustration and _pity_ wasn't enough, it was the cold shoulder of everyone in the , look at that pathetic Uchiha the traitor of Konoha. Of all of the insults jeered at him, Sasuke despised 'Orochimaru's groupie' the most. He was an Uchiha, he deserved more respect than this. But apparently Itachi and him had obliterated any last bit of respect they'd had by their actions over the past few years. His name no longer meant anything. Sasuke's property had been sold, but Tsunade had generously decided to give him back his estate and that new furniture would be put in soon. The only reason he was still alive, and on probation was because he killed Orochimaru. Apparently this death was satisfactory as payment for his crimes and he was allowed to live. However he would be on probation for several months before he would be allowed to work as a ninja for Konoha again. In all of this madness, Sasuke had noticed an overwhelming silence. Yes, fine, there was noise. As you would expect in a bustling village. But there was a gap. The one Naruto had left when he'd been put into the Sanatorium. This strange desire to see the dobe after all these years, this was what led him here today with Sakura. Sasuke didn't understand it at all. Really. What was he doing?

"He won't remember you, Sasuke. He doesn't remember anyone, not even Iruka or Kakashi." Sakura warned him as she had already. But hearing it again, as they walked through the sanatorium's front doors made it hit him even harder.

"I…I know."

"And because of his regression he has the mind of a seven year old. He doesn't realize how old he is physically, and he acts very childish."

"Sakura!" Sasuke snapped. She winced, and stared at the ground, "I'm sorry…it's just…I _know_. You've told me all of this. And I…I want to see him."

Sakura gave him that withering, pitying look that she had been for the past few days since she'd revealed to him Naruto's condition. He chose to ignore it and allowed her to lead him to the sign in desk. He accepted his badge, and wrote his name neatly on the sign in sheet. From there Sakura led him through the halls towards the basement, where she said that Naruto was with his 'Art Group' at the moment. Sasuke inquired as to why he attended such things and Sakura explained easily, making Sasuke feel extremely awkward.

"They do it for all of the patients, it's a part of their enrichment program. It's a way for them to express themselves, and to relax while being part of a group." Sakura told him, "They have groups for the children, Naruto and other adults like him who have regressed mentally into childhood accompany them, and the other adults with different problems."

"Ah."

"Here we are." Sakura put on a big smile and opened the door in front of them. Sasuke shivered involuntarily. It was quite cold in the basement. _I should have worn a coat_.

"Flower girl!" A familiar voice cried. It was deeper, but with a childish tone to it. Sasuke looked across the room and felt his heart leap into his throat.

Naruto was sitting on the floor on the far side of the round room room with a bucket of crayons sitting next to room was entirely made of cement, and everything made an echo off the smooth walls. There were rugs, and book shelves, and cushions and chairs to make it seem more comfortable. But the chill that lurked in the space was overpowering and in the end made the room seem _wrong_ somehow. Naruto had a coloring book on his lap and an eager grin on his face at the sight of Sakura. His eyes then flitted over to Sasuke with a friendly look but no apparent recognition. Sasuke again wondered why he was here. The dobe wouldn't even recognize him. What was the point if there was going to be no annoying the brat? It wouldn't be like old times. It would be awkward and _strange_. Sakura grabbed him by the arm and forced him over to Naruto where they sat down on the floor with him.

"Hi Naruto, this is my friend Sasuke." Sakura introduced him as though Naruto and he had never met before. A strange creeping feeling made it's way through Sasuke's body at this thought and he put a friendly smile on his face that was thoroughly fake and unfelt.

"Hi Sasuke, Flower girl told me about you at lunch today." He set down the crayon he was holding and offered Sasuke his hand.

Sasuke shook it politely and gave Sakura a strange look, "Flower girl?"

"Yes, it's what Naruto calls me. It's because-"

"I wanna tell the story!" Naruto blurted loudly. _Just like a child would_…Sasuke thought grimly, and he barely contained a roll of his eyes.

"Okay." Sakura chuckled.

"When I first met Flower girl, she came to visit me when I woke up in the hospital. I was really hurt; I guess I was in a accident. But I don't remember it." Naruto explained happily.

Sasuke forced himself to smile patiently while he listened to Naruto regale him with this story. He told Sasuke how Sakura had introduced herself by her first name, but that he decided to call her flower girl because her name meant a type of flower. Oh and because her hair was pink. This was a vital detail in his epic tale. When Naruto wasn't gesturing wildly with his arms as he told them a story, he was intent on coloring in the new book that Sakura had given him at lunch. He really was like a little kid again. Sasuke felt his chest tighten nearly every time Naruto opened his mouth to speak. It was like he expected every time for Naruto to start talking like normal, for this all to be some big joke. That his best friend, his rival, his team mate would suddenly come back to him. But it never happened. Instead he was thinking of Naruto younger, when Sasuke barely even paid attention to his existance. Oh, it was the loud kid that everyone hated, who didn't have any parents. Big deal. Back then Sasuke had always wondered why he'd never cried, always putting a grin on his face. He secretly wanted to see him cry, which sounded horrible, but it was what he'd wanted. No one could be happy all the time, especially in those conditions. Now however, Sasuke wanted Naruto to laugh and fight with him, and call him a jerk. Hell, he'd even rather the dobe take a swing at him than sit there and color and call Sakura '_Flower Girl_'.

"Did you have fun on your trip, Sasuke?" Naruto suddenly asked him.

Sasuke jolted back to the present, as he hadn't noticed he'd been spacing out. Naruto was coloring, so the question wasn't really meant seriously but still it struck a nerve. His _trip_. Sasuke looked to Sakura for an answer. But apparently when his answer didn't come immediately Naruto felt like he hadn't phrased his question correctly.

"Your trip? Flower girl said that you just got home from a very long trip." As Naruto said this Sasuke widened his eyes pointedly at Sakura, "Where did you go? Did you go to visit one of the other villages? What kind of stuff did you do?"

"Ah, I wanted to see how some of the other villages did things, so I've been visiting a lot of them."

"That doesn't sound fun. That sounds like such a grown up thing to do!" Naruto proclaimed.

"It was." Sasuke agreed, looking back on the rash decisions he'd made.

Before Naruto could get a chance to ask more about this fabricated 'trip', something happened. He'd turned a page in his coloring book and came upon one with some snakes on it. They were cutesy, and not at all terrifying looking. Their little forked tongues were poking out and their eyes were small crescents to show that they were happy snakes. Upon seeing them Naruto screamed loudly; throwing the book across the room and curling up in the corner. Sakura cursed under her breath and gathered Naruto in her arms, apologizing for her mistake. He cried hysterically, sobbing and hiccupping against her shoulder. The other children, (some friends of Naruto's) gathered around trying to see what was wrong. Eventually, the counselor who was handling the group that day allowed Sakura and Sasuke to take Naruto back to his rooms while calming down the other children.

With the strength she obtained through training with Tsunade, Sakura was the one who carried Naruto in her arms. She spoke soft reassuring words to him, and quickly he fell asleep. Sasuke looked at Sakura and asked her what on earth had happened.

"Naruto doesn't like snakes. He says they remind him of the bad man in his nightmares he has almost every night." Sakura said sadly, "I should have checked before I got the book. I can't believe how stupid I was!"

When they reached Naruto's room she went inside and laid him down in his bed, covering him up and tucking him in. She sat on the edge of his bed while Sasuke chose to stand nearby. "Has he told you much about this bad man?"

"His descriptions are very vague, but he has drawn pictures, and they do look a lot like Orochimaru, but sometimes they look like your brother, Itachi." Sakura murmured quietly, her eyebrows knit together as she thought about it.

"Do you have any of these pictures?" Sasuke asked, intrigued by the thought of Naruto remembering anything from his old life, even if it was a nightmare.

"Yeah, back at my apartment. I'll find them for you when we go back there."

"What are his nightmares like?"

"For one, lower your voice, he's sleeping." Sakura scolded him and Sasuke rolled his eyes at her, "And two…they're also just as flat as the idea of the 'bad man'. Just like a little kid's nightmares."

"The bad man comes after him, with snakes. Sometimes, very rarely, he's hurting a boy Naruto thinks he knew before his 'accident'." Sakura trembled as she said this, "The pictures he's drawn of it…make me think, Sasuke…that boy is-"

"Me." He gulped.

Sasuke glared at the boy lying in the bed. Naruto's now peaceful sleeping face was turned towards him. Sasuke had always wondered why Naruto had cared so much, why he'd fought so hard to make Sasuke come home. Now, here Naruto was in the sanatorium with no memories of anyone. Still, even in this state, he was worried about Sasuke, though it might have been in nightmares, it was still something. Sasuke didn't miss the flash of jealousy across Sakura's face when she admitted this. For some reason Sasuke couldn't really explain, he felt a bit of pride swell in his chest. The dobe that Sakura had ignored for so long despite his obvious feelings for her didn't care enough about her to remember her. Yet Sasuke, the one who'd betrayed him, relentlessly teased him and left him...Naruto remembered him. It wasn't until Sakura left him alone in the room with Naruto, so she could go get his 'nightmare drawings' from her apartment that Sasuke truly thought on what he'd just discovered. Why was Naruto remembering him something to be proud of?

**TBC…

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	2. Chapter 2

**Mad World**

Chapter 2 - Grown Up Faces

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Naruto sat down in the art room, excited at the thought of meeting another one of Flower girl's friends. He opened his coloring book and carefully picked out which color he wanted to use on the ducky on the front page. Goldenrod or Sunny yellow? He picked Goldenrod. Steadily, Naruto made a dark outline, staying inside the lines, pushing down hard with the crayon. Then, very lightly he filled in the rest of the parts he wanted to be yellow. This was how Flower girl had taught him to color. His counselor, Miss Martha, came over to him and checked to see how he was doing. 

"I'm really excited!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto, we use our inside voice during group time." Miss Martha chided, Naruto blushed. "May I ask why you are so excited?"

"Flower girl is bringing a new one of her friends to visit me today!"

"Oh, did she say which one of her friends she was bringing?" Martha smiled at the thought.

"She didn't tell me his name. But she said he just came home a few days ago from a very long trip and that he was excited to meet me." Naruto noticed as he explained the circumstances that Martha's face darkened a little. What was so terrible about Naruto meeting this friend of Flower girl's? Even Flower girl herself had made that face, yet at the same time she wanted him to meet this mysterious friend. It was so confusing.

"Ah, I see. I think I know the one she's bringing."

"Is he nice, Miss Martha?"

"I think you'll like him." Martha winked at him before strolling off to check on the other kids.

Naruto frowned at her retreating back. He didn't like surprises, unless they were coloring books. He liked coloring book surprises. But when it came to everything else, Naruto very much liked plain, normal, the same. It made things easier. Just as he was putting the finishing touches on the ducky's bill (he had colored it with his 'Rose' crayon), the door to the art room opened. All of the children, especially Naruto, looked up at the doorway. Flower girl was standing by the door, yanking in a tall man behind her. He seemed familiar to Naruto. He couldn't decide if it was the pale skin, the dark eyes, or the even darker hair. Everything about him made Naruto wiggle in his place on the floor, wondering if maybe he'd met him before. He smiled brightly and called to Flower girl, waving excitedly for her to come over. She did so, pulling her friend behind her.

"Hi Naruto, this is my friend Sasuke!" Flower girl sat down, forcing her friend 'Sasuke' down as well.

"Hi Sasuke, Flower girl told me about you at lunch today." Naruto put down his crayon (it was a very pretty shade of blue called 'cyan' that he was using for the water the ducky was swimming in) and offered his hand to Sasuke for him to shake. Miss Martha had told him when Flower girl had started bringing all her friends over that it was polite for him to shake hands with people he didn't know.

Sasuke took his hand and shook it. Naruto wondered at how Sasuke had shaken his hand. He did it stiffly, as though he had something grown up and important to do somewhere else. This was probably the case. Flower girl sometimes dragged her friends over to see Naruto when they clearly had other things they needed to do. Sometimes Naruto found this frustrating, but it seemed to make Flower girl happy so he usually left it alone and didn't mention it. When Sasuke turned to Flower girl and said her name questioningly Naruto tried to keep himself from blushing. The way Sasuke said it made the name sound stupid. Naruto didn't like feeling stupid. He went back to coloring. But as Flower girl began to explain to Sasuke about the nickname, Naruto couldn't contain himself.

"I wanna tell the story!" He interrupted. He knew it was rude, but he loved telling this particular story to people. The day when he first woke up in the hospital, and met Flower girl, was very important to him. It was one of his most favorite days that he could remember.

Eagerly, and without holding back, he detailed that day's events, and how he'd come to call Flower girl by such a name. It was because when she'd told him her name he had thought about the cherry blossom trees outside, and how the name Sakura meant cherry blossom. The flowers also matched her hair. That's when he decided to call her Flower girl; of course, there were more and more things about that day he wanted to tell Sasuke. After all, Sasuke had been on a long trip, Flower girl herself had said so. Naturally he should be informed on what had happened since he'd left (that Naruto knew about). But, as he told story after story, Naruto watched the expression on Sasuke's face become that of a grown up. It was that face they made when they weren't paying attention or really didn't want to. It was the 'annoyed' face. Of course, Sasuke was smiling and nodded occasionally, but Naruto knew he was bothering him. At the end of his most recent story he stopped and started coloring again, hoping Flower girl would talk to Sasuke instead. But she didn't. Instead there were awkward lapses of silence that Naruto didn't like.

Finally Naruto couldn't take the silence anymore, he thought of what he might be able to talk to Sasuke about that wouldn't make the 'annoyed' face show up again. "Did you have fun on your trip, Sasuke?"

Naruto had hoped that he'd chosen a real winner with that question. But apparently he just couldn't win at all with Sasuke. _No, maybe he just didn't hear me!_ Naruto thought. He repeated his question, saying that Flower girl had mentioned it at lunch. Sasuke gave him a grown up answer about wanting to know how they did things in other villages. Naruto had laughed and voiced his opinion on the subject only to have Sasuke agree solemnly with him. Naruto frowned again. Sasuke was a very _odd_ friend. He wasn't sure he liked him yet. In fact, Naruto would go so far as to say that he _didn't_ like Sasuke at ALL. But Miss Martha had taught him that it was only polite to get to know a person first before deciding if you liked them or not. He just needed to get to know Sasuke. Maybe this was how he acted around everyone when he first met them?

Now, as Naruto was going to try and start another conversation, he flipped the page in his coloring book. At first, terror overtook him, and his blood ran cold. The snakes on the page were happy, and not in any way threatening. But the mere idea of them made him want to scream. His mind went back to the nightmare he'd had last night. It was the same as usual, except for one minor detail. The bad man in his nightmares, he was _always_ trying to kill him. He would come after him, laughing and taunting him, his pet snakes nipping at Naruto's heels no matter how fast he ran. Sometimes, the dream would end in Naruto being the spectator instead of the one running. There would be a boy lying in front of him on the ground, hurt really bad. The bad man would be kicking him and hurting him, while at the same time saying nice things. Naruto hated it. This time in the dream however, not only was he kicking him but the snakes were biting at him…and for the first time ever, the boy had spoken to Naruto. He had been begging for him to stop it, to help him. Naruto had woken up with his heart pounding, and tears running down his face because he hadn't helped the boy, he couldn't move.

It was then that Naruto realized why Sasuke had seemed so familiar to him. He looked a lot like the boy in Naruto's dream…just older, and more '_grown up_'. He gave Naruto that same feeling that the boy in his nightmares did: of how he must have known him somewhere else. But as he stared at the snakes on the page of his coloring book he felt as though they were coming to life, they only served to remind him of his dream from last night. He didn't want those snakes to go after Sasuke. And as he had thought that he'd wanted to scream, he finally let out the terrified noise while throwing the book as far away from him as he could. He scooted into the corner and cried while continuing to scream. Naruto didn't want the snakes to come after him; he didn't want them to go after Sasuke, and an even worse thought leapt into his mind. What if they went after Flower girl? That horrifying image wrenched another cry from his throat as Flower girl took him into her arms and held him. She rocked him back and forth, telling him it was okay and that she was sorry she hadn't looked through the whole book first.

Naruto held onto her and cried, and cried, and cried. His nose was beginning to run, so he thoughtlessly wiped it on his arm and buried his face in Flower girl's shoulder. She slipped her arm under the back of his knees. As she stood up, still holding him she curved her other arm to support his back while placing her hand on the back of his thighs to make sure he didn't fall. She then walked quickly out of the room. Naruto sneaked a look over Flower girl's shoulder to see if Sasuke was okay, to make sure the snakes hadn't gotten him. They hadn't. He appeared okay, if not confused and very sad. Naruto didn't bother asking if Sasuke was alright, he wasn't bleeding or crying, or begging to be rescued. So Naruto allowed himself to rest his head wearily on Flower girl's shoulder and inhale the scent of her sweet smelling hair. The peaceful sound of Flower girl's voice whispering in his ear, accompanied by her softly rubbing his arm made him sleepy. He yawned and soon fell asleep.

-

When Naruto woke up, he was back in his room. He shifted under the covers staring in the direction of where he knew the edge of the bed was. His whole body was under the blanket so he was warm and cozy and breathing in warm air and his own smell. It was nice, but stuffy. Now that he was awake he wanted to breathe cold air. Naruto poked his head out from under the blankets and looked around. Sasuke was slumped down in one of the armchairs in Naruto's room. He'd pulled it over the edge of Naruto's bed and had clearly fallen asleep in it. Flower girl was nowhere to be seen. Naruto snorted, getting the stuffy smell out of his nose as the cold air had not been enough. Running his hand nervously through his hair, he watched Sasuke sleep. He had one arm under his right leg, the hand holding onto the calf of the other leg. His other arm was thrown over his head, which was leaning on the opposite shoulder. He also snored profusely. Naruto noticed with a laugh that he quickly muffled with his fist in his mouth, that Sasuke had a spit bubble on the corner of his mouth. Naruto quietly slipped out of his bed and crept over to the side of Sasuke's chair. He reached out a tentative finger and popped the bubble. Instantaneously Sasuke woke up, jerking into a stiff, rigid upright position, looking extremely bleary. He gracefully smothered a yawn and smoothed down his hair his gaze coming to rest on Naruto.

"You sleep funny." Naruto giggled. Sasuke gave him an impatient look before stretching, and popping his back. His back made a few loud painful sounding cracks.

"Wow that was loud." Sasuke stared dispassionately at him again and Naruto added gleefully, "I can make louder sounds with my kneecaps. Listen."

Naruto twisted his knees to the sides and relished in the loud cracking sounds they made, as if someone had hit them with a baseball bat. When he glanced up proudly at Sasuke's face, there was an expression of horror awaiting him. Naruto frowned. Sasuke was so serious; didn't he have any sense of fun? Clearly not. Naruto sighed and clambered back up onto his bed. He crossed his legs underneath him and sat there, his back slightly hunched. Naruto stared at Sasuke, waiting for him to start a conversation. But he didn't. The air was extremely awkward and not at all pleasant.

"Where's-" Naruto was about to inquire as to the location of Flower girl only for her to walk into the room. She smiled upon seen Naruto awake. Casually handing Sasuke some papers she'd brought with her, she hugged Naruto tightly in her arms.

"I'm so sorry Naruto, I really truly forgot to check, and I'm sorry that it scared you." Flower girl told him with a sad voice.

"I'm fine Flower girl." Naruto said, "Are you and Sasuke okay? I thought the snakes were going to get you!"

"No, they didn't get us Naruto." Flower girl smiled at him reassuringly, "We're both fine."

"Okay."

Naruto peeked over Flower girl's shoulder at Sasuke to see what he was looking at so intently. Even from his position on the bed, which was a foot or so away, Naruto recognized what he was looking at. He blushed and leapt out of Flower girl's arms. Naruto snatched the papers away from Sasuke and held them protectively to his chest, his heart pounding. Sasuke already thought he was stupid for calling Flower girl by the nickname he'd given her and that was personal enough. What would he think of his nightmare drawings? Letting Sasuke see these was the last thing he ever wanted to happen, well, next to the bad man and his snakes coming after him or Flower girl, or Sasuke. His eyes widened as he realized that these were the ones he'd given to Flower girl, and she'd willingly given them to Sasuke. He whirled on Flower girl and glared angrily.

"Why did you let him see these?!" Naruto shouted.

Flower girl backed up a few steps, her face contorting with guilt. Her eyes were shining and she bit her bottom lip. Wringing her hands, Naruto glared at her all the same. Even though Flower girl was making her _best_ sorry face. This was important to him. He blushed so much that he felt like an all over tingling feeling was threatening to consume him. He'd tried to describe the feeling to Flower girl's friend Shikamaru once, and he'd told him that he probably had frostbite. Of course, later Miss Martha had told him it wasn't frostbite, he was blushing which was what happened when he was embarrassed. Like right now.

Naruto watched Sasuke's face out of the corner of his eye and saw the hope glimmering in those familiar black eyes. He held the pictures to his chest, making sure the picture sides were covered, and started to cry. This was just so embarrassing. He jumped onto his bed and quickly hid under the covers with his pictures. Flower girl sat down on the edge of his bed and tried to pull the covers up off his head. But Naruto yanked them tighter around him, holding onto them with a death grip. She was apologizing to him and pleading with him to forgive her. He didn't want to forgive her.

"Make him go 'way." Naruto mumbled dejectedly, "He's not nice, and he thinks I'm stupid."

Flower girl paused in her ramblings to listen to his words, and then she was quiet for a while. Naruto added tearfully, "Why did you have to show _him_ my pictures?"

Footsteps echoed in his room, and then Naruto heard his door open and close while Flower girl called out 'Sasuke! Wait!' He grudgingly lifted the covers off his head and stared at the door, which was firmly closed. There was no Sasuke in sight and Flower girl looked really upset. She glared at the floor, as though it had done her some great personal wrong. Then she sighed and turned on Naruto with a sincerely sorry look.

"He isn't very nice all the time Naruto, that's the way he is. But he _is_ a good person. And I _know_ for a fact he doesn't think you're stupid." As Flower girl said this to him, he felt bad for saying those things, even though they were how he really felt.

"And," Flower girl added, "The reason I showed him those pictures (I brought them here, but was going to ask you first if I could show him), was because he asked me about why you were so scared of the snakes."

"Oh."

"He only wanted to help, Naruto. It was wrong that I didn't ask you before handing them to him but I wanted to make sure you were okay. I think it was mean for you to make him feel bad about it."

"I'm sorry." Naruto whispered. "I'll say sorry to him, if you can make him come back."

"We'll see." Flower girl nodded. "I'll go find him and tell him that you want to apologize and that it was only a misunderstanding. But it'll be up to him if he comes back."

"Okay."

Flower girl placed her hand gently on the back of his neck and tilted his forehead up to her lips so she could kiss him there. She said goodbye before hurrying out of the room.

* * *

"Make him go 'way." 

"He's not nice, and he thinks I'm stupid."

Sasuke stared at the quivering lump under the covers and felt a growl welling up in his throat. When had he not been nice? He'd put up with all of the stories, and not said a thing about how truly stupid Naruto was acting. Sasuke had tolerated it all, and here Naruto was, _still_ displeased with him. But then again, Naruto had always been this way. Even before he'd been tortured into insanity. He'd always wanted more out of Sasuke than he could give. Why was Sasuke so cold? Why was he such a jerk? Why was he so arrogant? Sasuke, do this, Sasuke do that. Don't do that Sasuke. Stop being a jerk Sasuke. It had gone on forever, and ever. Now was no different, not really. Naruto still expected all of the same things from him. Sasuke was done trying. Sakura was kneeling on the edge of the bed, apologizing to Naruto profusely while trying to get him to come out from under his blankets. He stubbornly refused and asked in a voice laden with sobs why exactly Sakura had to give the pictures to _Sasuke_. He couldn't take this. There was no way. He got up and walked stiffly out of the room, closing the door behind him. Sasuke too ignored Sakura's pleas. Instead he marched back to the lobby where he ripped his nametag off, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it towards the trashcan. It missed. The receptionist (probably also one of the nurses) called after him, telling him he had to sign out, but he ignored her.

He stalked away from the stupid place and through town; fighting off the sense of guilt that threatened to consume him. This wasn't his fault. He hadn't asked the idiot to come after him. Sasuke hadn't been the one to put Naruto into a genjutsu that lasted three days.Why did he want to go see the annoying brat anyways? This was pointless. He hadn't even liked Naruto before he'd left, and before he'd met Orochimaru. Naruto had been out for a few hours, and as it was only just now heading into spring, it was still dark out at six in the evening. He stomped through the late afternoon crowds, finding a familiar path that led towards the training grounds he still remembered. His traitorous feet led him to a place that was so full of nostalgia that he might as well have drowned in it. Sasuke stormed over to the place where the official team 7 had truly first begun. Where Naruto had been tied to the pole, and Sasuke and Sakura had given him some of their hard earned lunch. Sasuke tromped back and forth in front of it. He shouldn't have asked Sakura for those papers. He shouldn't have. Though it would have been less suspicious if she'd set them down on the table, or _something_ other than handing them to him.

Sasuke screamed angrily, kicking a stone at his feet so hard it hit a tree a few meters away. A flock of birds dispersed from it, flying away from the threat. He fell down in front of the pole and leaned against it. _Clunk.__Clunk.__Clunk_. The sound of him lifting his head up and then letting it fall heavily back onto the wood was making a soothing sound that might have sent him to sleep but for the dull ache growing in his scalp. Hmm, maybe he could give himself a headache. Sasuke would greatly prefer a headache to heartache. _I didn't just think that._ Sasuke chided himself. Then, Naruto and Sakura had desperately tried to come after him, even after he'd been gone for three years and pushed them both away. What happened then? Naruto went crazy and Sakura found him anyways and brought him home. _I'd rather stay under __Orochimaru's__ spell for a million years than come home to this…_

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted, a ring of relief echoing off the end of his name.

He didn't bother looking up at her. Sasuke continued his rhythm. Lift, fall, clunk, lift, fall, clunk. Ow. Every time he let his head fall back her face came back into his vision. Her face was filled with worry, so half-heartedly he muttered 'Fuck off'.

"No, I won't '_fuck off_'." Sasuke scoffed at her words but didn't respond. "Sasuke, I talked to Naruto and told him you just wanted to help and that it was rude of him to say those things. He apologized and would like to tell you himself that he's sorry."

"I don't want an apology. I'm the one that should be apologizing right?! I mean I'm the vengeful bastard that ran away and fucked everything up!" Sasuke retorted. Sakura glower at him, and assumed a fighting stance, as though to tell him she'd force him to go if she had to. Sasuke remained where he was.

"Sasuke, don't make me take you back there." Sakura threatened.

"You're not making me do anything, _flower girl_." Sasuke told her simply, "Believe it or not, I went there today because I wanted to, not because you made me."

"You know Sasuke, I'm not the same weak little girl you remember, I am more than capable of making you do anything I want you to."

Sasuke stood up and walked past her. He barely made it a few feet before Sakura grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back to face her. He raised his eyebrows at her in exasperation. She glared, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to the sanatorium to accept this apology Naruto has prepared for me." Sasuke replied smoothly, "I would have gone back whether or not you'd found me and put on this little display of confidence. I just needed a break."

"Yeah, sure you would have. How could I have been sure that if I hadn't-"

Sasuke threw his head back and closed his eyes, "Sakura, clearly this is _still_ an issue for you, so let me explain. You are _not_ the center of my universe. I don't care what you think, what you do, what you say. So leave me, the fuck alone."

When he lifted his head back up and stared at her, her fae was embarrassed and obviously pained. Good, let her cry for all he cared. He had more important things to do, like get Naruto back to normal. With that, Sasuke pulled his arm out of Sakura's grip and he headed back to the sanatorium.

**TBC…

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

**Important!** I went back and rewrote parts of Chapters 1 and 2, so you should go look at them so you aren't as lost. I made Sasuke less emotional and more 'stoic'/'asshole'. Please re-review and tell me what you think!!

**

* * *

Mad World**

Chapter 3 - Dad

* * *

"Sa-kur-aa." Naruto tasted the name as though it were very bitter medication. His face scrunched up into one of displeasure and determination.

Flower-er, _Sakura_ had told him she knew Sasuke didn't think he was stupid. But Naruto knew Sakura was just saying that to make him feel better. She didn't want him to feel stupid, so she said nice things. Sasuke couldn't care either way so he didn't pay attention to the faces he was making, or what he said. Naruto was going to make sure that Sasuke didn't look at him like that anymore. So while Sakura went and got Sasuke, Naruto was spending time working on his first step: Using Sakura's actual name instead of the nickname he'd given her. Naruto wasn't sure if it would be more embarrassing to start using her real name and have her call him on it, or to continue calling her Flower girl and have Sasuke make those mean smiles at him. Either way, he had to try.

"Sa-kur-aa." He stuck out his tongue, "Ugh."

"Sakura ugh? Since when has _that_ been my name, huh, wise guy?"

Naruto whirled around and took a step back. Sakura stood at the door with Sasuke a few steps in front of her. She chuckled and strode into the room. Sasuke looked as impatient as ever. Naruto felt compelled to curl up in a ball under his covers and hide but chose to stay where he was. Sasuke _wasn't_ a bad guy. He just was bad with people when he first met them. Naruto fell back onto his bed. He decisively ignored the easy escape route now close to him and allowed Sakura to sit down next to him. Wait, that wasn't Sakura. Naruto saw Sasuke's lean muscular form lying on the bed next to him in the exact same manner as Naruto was. For a moment, Naruto forgot why exactly Sakura had brought Sasuke back. But then as Sasuke turned his head to the side and gave Naruto an expectant look, Naruto remembered with a blush.

"'m sorry, Sasuke." Naruto muttered. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Apology accepted." Sasuke replied smoothly. This was something else Naruto noticed, Sasuke hardly _ever_ meant anything he said. If Sasuke said it, don't believe it until you see further action to prove his words trustworthy.

Naruto giggled, but decided to hold in his comment for fear of it yielding an angry Sakura _or_ an angry Sasuke. However, Sasuke didn't seem intent on letting Naruto's laugh go away without scrutiny.

"What?" Sasuke grunted at him.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" Naruto laughed again, "Everything about you is so _grown up-__ish_."

Sakura snorted from a few feet away and Sasuke scowled severely. So Naruto held in the rest of his opinion. He didn't quite feel safe enough around Sasuke yet to say anything he wanted. Sasuke turned his face away from him, electing instead to stare at the ceiling. Naruto rolled his eyes and lifted his head a bit to look at Sakura. She was staring at the two of them in an 'awwww' way, and Naruto scowled, making him feel too much like Sasuke. He made a face, trying to get across to her 'what should I do now?' Sakura subtly gestured to the papers that were peeking out from under the covers. Naruto's eyes widened at the silent suggestion, even though he knew 'Sasuke wanted to help'. It still made him nervous, the idea of showing Sasuke something so personal to him. They'd only met today. But, knowing he could trust Sakura, if not Sasuke, Naruto reached over to his drawings and pulled them out. Flopping back down on the bed, Naruto held the pictures up above his face to look at them. In a moment of hesitation Naruto nearly held them to his chest covering them from sight. But, a breath of a second later, Sasuke had subtly inched closer to him on the bed to look up at the drawings. Naruto's breathing hitched for a second, and he coughed, Sasuke lying that close to him was making his tummy have ticklish feelings he didn't like.

"Who's that?" Sasuke asked, pointing up to the stick figure lying on the ground in the first picture.

Naruto stared at the little stick figure he'd drawn probably months ago. He had short crayon scratches black hair, and blue lines coming off his face to show he was crying. Naruto had drawn red blotches along the stick figure's body to show he was bleeding from the kicks of the bigger stick figure. His face felt clammy and cold, and Naruto closed his eyes for a minute trying to relax himself before he looked at the picture again.

"That's the boy in my nightmares that the…bad man…goes after when he's not trying to hurt me." Naruto explained with a bit of a stutter. "I think I knew him once, before I woke up in the hospital."

"But you don't remember him?"

Sasuke was very close to him now, though Naruto could somehow tell Sasuke had no idea that this might be uncomfortable for him. Naruto was holding the pictures up with shaky arms, and Sasuke's head was right next to his, so close that his long bangs were tickling Naruto's ears. He had one arm thrown over Naruto's head, and he was lying on his side while Naruto lay on his back. Still, despite their closeness, they remained not touching. So close were they that Naruto felt that if he turned his head to the side, their noses would clunk together in an Eskimo kiss.

"Well, I don't remember his name but I remember funny things." Naruto felt immensely awkward, if he told Sasuke more after this point, than it would be more than he'd ever told Sakura before. He didn't want to make Sakura feel like she was less important to him, because it wasn't true. She was his world. It was just that, Sakura was like a mom to him, and there were things that no kid wanted to talk to their mom about.

"Funny things?"

"Like we went to school together and that he didn't like ramen very much." Naruto started, with Sasuke's hair tickling his ear it was very hard to concentrate, "And I think he called me dobe a lot. But it wasn't mean; it was just kind of…joking."

"Why is he on the ground in your picture?"

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief; that was a question Sakura already knew the answer to. "Because the bad man is hurting him. In my nightmare he hurts him and says nice things at the same time."

"Do you have this nightmare often?"

"Sometimes…I just had it last night, but it was different than usual." Naruto mumbled. The ticklish feelings in his tummy were starting to overwhelm him and make him squirm a little.

"How so?"

"For the first time…the bad man used snakes to hurt him too, and the boy talked to me."

"That's why the snakes bothered you so much today?"

"Uh huh."

"What did the boy say to you?"

Naruto writhed in his place, and he felt pinpricks behind his eyes like he was going to cry. Then the tears spelled out and rolled down the sides of his faces onto the blanket beneath him. Naruto tried to continue staring at the pictures but he was quickly losing sight of them through his blurry eyes. He dropped the pictures and covered his face with his hands, curling into a ball facing Sasuke. To Naruto's comfort and further distress he realized that this had caused several parts of him and Sasuke to touch. His knees were poking into Sasuke's chest, and his hands which were wrapped around his shins were pressed against Sasuke's stomach. Worst of all, their noses were touching, and all the pictures were fallen on top of them. Naruto wanted badly to stop crying, to be able to move himself away from Sasuke and make it into Sakura's arms. But somehow he was paralyzed, he couldn't move. He could only sob, and shudder, and gasp as his throat hurt from the crying.

"Oi, dobe, you're _touching_ me." Sasuke growled, and Naruto blushed profusely.

On an instinct Naruto didn't know he had he rolled away from Sasuke immediately and rubbed at his eyes to stop himself from crying. He wiped the tear streaks off his face and took a deep breath to calm himself down. When his gaze fell back onto Sasuke he almost wanted to laugh. Sasuke was covered in the papers, and there were some surrounding him that had been wrinkled and rolled on. Naruto smiled bashfully at him, and shyly he crawled back to pick up all the papers. Sasuke didn't make a move to help, and that was probably a wise thing. Naruto had just managed to make his tummy stop tickling, and he didn't want it to happen again. After all the papers had been straightened out, Naruto turned around to look to Sakura for comfort. However, he noticed she had left without either of them noticing. Naruto sighed in frustration.

He slumped back onto the bed where he'd been before, with the tiny gap between Sasuke and himself. Naruto crossed his arms and glared at the ceiling. How dare Sakura leave him alone with Sasuke again? It wasn't fair. Feeling Sasuke's eyes on him, Naruto knew he was probably still waiting for an answer. This made Naruto's chest tighten with no small amount of anguish. He hadn't liked what the boy had said to him.

"The boy…he asked me why I didn't help him, and if I cared so much why I hadn't seen from the beginning what was happening to him. He asked me a lot of those things, and I didn't like it, it only made me feel bad because in every nightmare I can't move! Even when I try, I'm not strong enough, just like the bad man always says." Naruto blushed, embarrassed at the truth he knew was there. He wasn't strong enough. If he was, than the bad man wouldn't hurt him or the other boy.

Naruto waited for Sasuke's next question. Any other question than that would be easier to answer. Naruto waited, and waited, but the silence stretched on. After a while, Naruto turned to face Sasuke and was surprised by what he saw. Sasuke's face was greatly pained, and his eyes were cold, and harsh as if they were trying to make the pain go away. He was frowning, and when Naruto looked at him Sasuke stared intently at the blanket. Naruto lifted a tentative hand and was about to put it on Sasuke's face to make him look at him, but he stopped. He was afraid. He didn't want to make Sasuke angry with him, but it looked like he was already unhappy, so what would the harm be? There would be a lot of harm, Naruto knew. He let his hand fall onto the blanket in front of Sasuke's face instead. Naruto yawned, right in Sasuke's face, he realized. He smiled weakly in apology but felt his eyelids droop. Their conversation had left him very tired.

He curled up and snuggled closer to Sasuke for warmth, far too tired to crawl under the covers. Just as he'd made himself comfortable with his head tucked easily beneath Sasuke's chin, Sasuke growled again in warning. Naruto ignored him.

"Dobe, you're _touching_ me." Sasuke stated in annoyance. "_Again_." He added.

"I know." Naruto mumbled sleepily. Even through his fatigue he tensed a little, expecting to be thrown or hit or something terrible.

Instead, to Naruto's surprise, Sasuke merely pulled away from him and got up off the bed. Naruto glared at him weakly, and Sasuke glared right back. As Naruto scowled, Sasuke went and gathered the stack of papers and set them on the table. Then, awkwardly Sasuke picked him up and pulled the blankets back before putting him back down on the bed. He deftly lifted the blanket again and tossed it over Naruto's entire frame even covering his head. After this Sasuke ordered in a stern voice, 'Go to sleep, dobe.' Naruto poked his head out from under the blankets to tell Sasuke 'No, I don't want to sleep' only to find that Sasuke had left the room without making a noise.

* * *

This time, when Sasuke entered the lobby he was tired. He removed his new name tag and neatly dropped it in the trashcan. Noticing his other one that hadn't quite made it in, he picked it up and also put it in the garbage. The whole room, unlike the rest of the facility was quite warm and welcoming. The walls were a less dull shade of white, and the floor was tiled with marble. There was a fireplace on the left wall when you entered the front doors, and near it were two couches and a coffee table. Across from them was the sign in desk where the receptionist was eyeing him wearily. Sasuke kindly walked over and signed himself out, apologizing for his behavior earlier. Though he truly hadn't given a damn what the lady thought, it would probably be best to improve relations if he was going to be visiting often. The woman smiled thankfully and told him it was no problem and that she'd be happy to see him again tomorrow. 

Sasuke nodded and made his way out the front doors into the dark evening. Due to his probation he wouldn't be allowed to take on any missions for at least a month or two, and it wasn't like he had anything else he could be doing. So, naturally, if Sakura didn't force him anyways, it would probably be the sanatorium where Sasuke would spend most of his time. This had certainly not been the meeting he expected to take place between him and Naruto when he'd first woken up back in Konoha. Sasuke had thought of course that Naruto was perfectly fine and would probably shower him with humiliating quantities of affection, or argue with him. But instead, here Sasuke was, rebuilding a relationship, trying to make the dobe remember him.

Whereas when Sasuke had first discovered through Sakura that Naruto was having dreams about him, even if they were dreams of him being hurt, he'd felt important. Somehow he'd felt proud that Naruto had managed to remember him, in some abstract way, when he had remembered no one else. Then, of course he had mentally smacked himself and removed the feeling of pride from his brain and felt curious instead. Why was Naruto having these nightmares? What happened in them? Then, when he'd felt close to getting an answer. The boy had spoken to Naruto in his dream last night. But, when Naruto finally told him what he'd said, Sasuke had felt frozen. Things he'd directly said to Naruto years ago, things he'd thought but never spoken aloud and then banished from his mind. Everything his nightmare self had told Naruto had struck him unawares.

Sasuke kicked another rock in front of him, staring at the ground as he wound his way through the village. The night air was warm enough to be comfortable without a jacket, and cool enough to be refreshing after breathing so much of the stuffy air inside the sanatorium. He watched as some teens (who clearly hadn't gone on to further their ninja training) stumbled their way down the street, all obviously drunk. When they noticed him they laughed loudly and jeered at him, knowing that he couldn't really do anything to them for it. He was already on probation, and everyone in the village pretty much wanted him dead. Why give them a reason? That's all he had to do. Give them one reason, and that would be that. With a great show of willpower he ignored them completely and carried on through the town, finally coming to the Uchiha estate.

When he entered, it was empty of course, and dark. He flicked on the entry hall light. The bulb flickered several times before turning on completely. Sasuke moved into the living room, where some of the first furniture to be brought in had been put. The estate was so large that they were slowly moving in furniture by the room. The first few days they'd covered the basics, moving things into the closest master bedroom, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room and the office. So now he wandered into the living room, not keen on sleeping in his parents' old bedroom. He collapsed onto the couch, one arm hanging off the edge, his face buried into the pillow near the armrest. His first day with Naruto and he was exhausted. Was every day going to be like this? As Sasuke closed his eyes to go to sleep; he sincerely hoped not.

* * *

The next day, Sasuke was woken up bright and early. Someone was in his house. He kept his eyes closed and listened. The person walked through the entry hall comfortably; there was a certain sureness in their step. They entered the living room and walked straight up to him. Then they paused, Sasuke continued to feign sleep, waiting for their next move. 

"Sasuke, wake up!"

He cracked an eye open, and lo and behold, Sakura stood before him. She was hunched over so they were face to face. Sasuke rolled over, facing the back of the couch, and away from her. Sakura clucked her tongue at him and went over to the windows where she promptly yanked open the blinds. Sasuke groaned as sunlight streamed in, slicing through the musty darkness and hitting him right in the eye. What was wrong with this bitch? Couldn't she see that he was sleeping?! Sasuke tried to ignore her, but she just kept talking. Sakura began telling him that he needed to get up, showered, and dressed quickly. Breakfast at the sanatorium was served at eight in the morning. She pleasantly informed him that it was seven. Sasuke glared over his shoulder at her and she remained unfazed.

"Sasuke, get up now or I'll make you get up." He rolled his eyes and continued to ignore her. He didn't hear her walk away, so he assumed she was still there.

"What?" He asked her. "I thought we had this discussion already. You aren't going to make me do anything."

"Sasuke-" Sakura replied primly.

Sasuke considered his options. He could continue to ignore her, and wait for her to leave. Or he could just get up and humor her, allowing her to think she had an influence over his actions. The second option sounded terribly unbecoming and potentially frustrating in the future. But if what Sakura said was true, and it probably was, breakfast started at eight and after that Naruto would be busy. Sasuke scowled but stood up and wandered towards the bathroom to shower. Sakura followed him all the way to the bathroom, and remained standing outside the door after he'd gone inside. He considered masturbating to waste time and to embarrass her, but realized that by wasting time, he was actually missing out on opportunities to make progress with Naruto. Instead he grudgingly removed his clothing and stepped into the shower, washing himself in an amount of time surely no girl could accomplish. Sasuke had never quite grasped why showers could possibly last nearly an hour. What was the appeal of standing in there? What on earth were they doing if not washing their hair or dousing themselves with overly strong smelling body wash?

Sasuke hurriedly dried himself off and then gathered up his dirty clothes and towel and stepped out of the bathroom. Sakura was waiting outside with her arms crossed over her chest. In an effort to prove that he didn't care if she was there or not he'd not worn a towel around his waist choosing to bare all. As her response to this Sakura stated, "I've seen bigger."

Sasuke scowled, retorting, "I bet you have, you've probably slept with every guy in Konoha while trying to pretend you aren't obsessed with me."

Sakura screeched something or other after him as he slammed the door to his parents' bedroom shut behind him and stalked over to the dresser, attempting (without success) to push Sakura's comment out of his head. What happened to that long haired weakling who blushed when he so much as breathed near her? Since when did she become this confident, frighteningly strong, smirking bitch? He was used to the one who he could easily push around and ignore. He could still ignore her. But this Sakura, he couldn't push around without her pushing back, and as he was slowly pulling on clean clothes she warned him that if he didn't hurry up she'd dress him herself.

In five minutes they were out the door heading to the sanatorium where Sasuke was going to have breakfast with Naruto, and Sakura was going to leave him so she could go to work. He _hated_ her. She signed him in and made sure to take him to the cafeteria. Once she'd shoved him through the doors she'd disappeared, leaving him alone. Naruto looked up at him from his place at the table closest to the door. He didn't frown at him but he sure wasn't excited at the thought of his presence. Sasuke sat down on the opposite side of the table and stared at Naruto, and Naruto's breakfast. His stomach growled before he got a chance to.

Naruto laughed at him, "You can go get food from the cook ladies, Sasuke."

Sasuke thought of protesting the thought of begging food off people he didn't know. But his stomach was churning, he hadn't eaten lunch or dinner yesterday and he was really hungry. Before he could reluctantly get up and go search out some food Naruto had gotten up and wandered towards the food line. When he came back he set down a bowl of cereal in front of him and a glass of orange juice Sasuke muttered a polite 'thank you' and dug in. Well, he ate with as much enthusiasm as his Uchiha upbringing would allow.

"Why are you here this early without Flo-um, Sakura?" Naruto asked him.

Sasuke paused, holding a spoon a few inches from his face. Naruto had just called Sakura by her actual name. He arched an eyebrow in confusion and mentioned this to him. Naruto blushed, and didn't respond to that. Instead, Naruto told him that he had to go to group discussion this morning and that people visiting weren't allowed in so Sasuke would have to wait for him in his room. Sasuke nodded.

"Why aren't they allowed to go in with you?" Sasuke questioned, "I went into art group and that was fine."

"Group discussion is where we talk about our problems and how well we're progressing with our new tasks. It's private, and Miss Martha doesn't want any outside person's presence to affect what we say." Naruto explained, drinking the rest of the milk in his cereal bowl.

"Do you think my being there would affect what you'd say?" Sasuke smirked.

Naruto nodded, "Yep."

"Why?"

Naruto hadn't obviously expected Sasuke to follow up with another question and he fumbled with what to say next. Sasuke let it go when a bell rang, interrupting the conversation. He noticed that the other patients were all getting up and leaving the room. Naruto too was picking up his and Sasuke's food mess and throwing it away.

"You remember the way back to my room, right?" Naruto checked. Sasuke nodded, and that's where they parted ways.

Naruto headed off down the hall towards the group activity rooms, and Sasuke went in the opposite direction towards the dormitories. He almost got lost in the winding maze of doors and hallways but eventually came upon the door with the plaque that read 'Uzumaki, Naruto'. Sasuke entered the room and shut the door behind him. It was just as he'd left it yesterday, except that Naruto had left his dresser drawers open and his pajamas all over the floor. Sasuke chuckled slightly and set about picking up the dirty clothes and searching for a hamper. As he cleaned up the room (and the bathroom where Naruto had left the shower a mess and a towel on the floor), Sasuke wondered how different Naruto would be in that group discussion if he knew Sasuke was in the room. If he actually managed to sit in the group with Naruto, how would his answers differ? Probably a great deal.

Sasuke moved the armchair that was next to the bed back to where he'd found it by a small bookcase in the corner next to the door. He made the bed and arranged the pillows in their usual uniform way at the head of the bed. Then, finding nothing else to do he sat down at the table in the center of the room where Naruto's nightmare drawings still lay. He'd never actually gotten the chance last night to look through all of them. He'd only seen the one on top. Now of course they were jumbled as Naruto had let them fall over them and then put them back in random order. Sasuke examined each one intently, finding them all very similar, but yet the childish details were disturbing. The red dots in the bad man's eyes and his long roughly drawn hair, and the red splotches on the boy on the ground's body obviously intended to be blood. All of it was both intriguing and horrifying. When Sasuke had thought he'd gone through all of them, there was one with another drawing on the back that he hadn't noticed.

It was a simple picture of two stick figures standing on a grassy hill with lots of trees, a bright blue sky and a sun with a happy face on it. The two figures were standing together, holding hands and smiling brightly. One had spiky yellow hair, and the other had longer black hair that was pointy around the edges. Sasuke's eyes flickered to the top of the page where the title of the picture was hastily scrawled by a child's hand. It read, 'I miss you'. At the bottom of the page beneath the two figures, the words 'Best Friends' was written. When Sasuke inspected the page closer he noticed there were old and dried dots where the crayon had faded. It was as if someone had been crying when they'd looked at it. The date in one corner of it said that it was roughly two years ago when the picture had been drawn. Sakura had probably hated this picture. Sasuke wondered why she hadn't thrown it away, or burnt it. Maybe Naruto had asked her to not lose it. She would have kept it, for Naruto's sake.

Sasuke placed the pictures in a stack back where he'd found them in the middle of the table. Just in time apparently for Naruto opened the door and entered the room. After casually shutting the door behind him he looked around at his now clean room in confusion.

"Did you clean my room?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Sasuke said, watching Naruto inspect his room, his neatly made bed, and then the tidied bathroom.

"No, it's just one of my new tasks I have to do every day for a star."

Sasuke nodded, accepting the answer and not bothering to inquire as to why he got a start for cleaning his room. Naruto padded over to him and sat down next to him at the table. He seemed to freeze when he saw the picture Sasuke had left on top of the pile. Sasuke watched Naruto slowly reach for the picture and pick it up; looking at it as though he'd thought he'd never see it again. He wasn't sure if he should have regretted leaving that specific one on top where Naruto would notice it. Naruto shyly looked up at him and asked if he'd found this in the pile of nightmare drawings. Sasuke nodded.

"I was hoping she hadn't brought this one." Naruto said timidly.

Sasuke didn't ask why, he chose this time to allow Naruto to tell him if he wanted. The last time he asked 'why' he'd gotten no answer. Naruto set the picture down on the table in front of him and stared at it. Then he turned his gaze onto Sasuke and began to speak.

"I drew this after my first night here, not in the hospital. Because the first dream I had of the boy wasn't a nightmare." Naruto stated slowly. It was like someone was yanking his teeth out. But Sasuke waited not wanting to ruin it and have him shut up again.

"We were playing good guys and bad guys. We were in a place where I think we used to live." Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration, as though he were trying to remember his dream in as much detail as possible, "We were having a good time. But then, this grown up came to get us for lunch, I think he was my dad. But he took us to get ramen. We were really happy."

"Your dad?" This was where Sasuke was confused. Naruto didn't have any parents; they died shortly after he was born.

"Well I think he was. He really acted like I think a dad would. But maybe I was wrong. Hold on." Naruto stood up and went over to a desk on the opposite wall from his bed. There was blank paper and colored pencils sitting on it. He brought them over to the table and started drawing. "I think I can probably draw a picture of him for you."

Sasuke watched in interest as Naruto drew a picture of his 'dad'. But slowly as the drawing was nearing completion, Sasuke recognized the figure on the paper. Naruto was drawing a picture of Kakashi. Sasuke had trouble keeping a smile off his face at this new revelation. He remembered Kakashi as his father, and Sasuke as his best friend. Though he didn't relate them to these figures in his mind, they obviously looked similar. Suddenly when Naruto was finished with his drawing, he turned to Sasuke and said something that threw him off guard.

"You can't tell Flower girl that I told you about my dream, okay?" Naruto demanded.

"Why not?"

"Because I never told her about it and if she finds out that I told you and not her and I remembered for so long than she'll get sad." Naruto rushed out. When Sasuke stared at him in wide eyed bewilderment Naruto added, "Please?"

"Huh, oh, um, yeah. Sure. I won't tell her."

"Thanks Sasuke." Naruto fidgeted awkwardly, putting the picture of Kakashi in the stack on top of the others.

"It's time for lunch." Naruto said, looking at the clock on the wall. Sure enough a few seconds later the bell rang signaling lunch time.

Sasuke stood up and patiently let Naruto lead him out the door and down to the cafeteria by the hand. Sasuke wondered why Naruto hadn't told Sakura about the dream, and had instead two years later told him.

**TBC…

* * *

**


	4. Chapter 4

**Mad World**

Chapter 4 - Ticklish Feelings

* * *

"So, how has your day been so far?" Sakura inquired.

Naruto was happy to see her, but at the same time nervous. He kept glancing at Sasuke and then hurriedly looking away when he was caught staring. It was like, any moment Naruto expected him to blurt out the secret that Naruto had begged him to keep. However, this wasn't very likely because he was heavily engaged in a conversation with Kakashi, whom Sakura had dragged along for lunch. Naruto liked Kakashi. He was funny, and very nice. That, and during the few weeks that Sakura had been gone recently, Kakashi had come to visit him in her place. He would read to him at bedtime, come see him at meals, and come to his art group when he could. Of course, he couldn't ever live up to Flower girl's standard, but Naruto decided that if he had to pick a plan b, Kakashi would be a very good one.

"It's been okay." Naruto answered Sakura, "I went to group discussion this morning, and while I was there Sasuke cleaned my room for me."

"Did he now?" Sakura smiled, turning to Sasuke with a teasing look. "I didn't know you were such a good maid, huh, Sasuke?"

"Beg pardon?" Sasuke spared her a look filled with dispassion.

"You cleaned Naruto's room for him while he was at group discussion? That was very _nice_ of you."

"Hn."

That was that. Sasuke went back to talking to Kakashi and Naruto resumed his conversation with Sakura. It was in the middle of Naruto asking Sakura how her other friends were doing, when Sasuke left for the restroom, Kakashi kindly showing him where it was. Naruto shrugged it off, but Sakura seemed a little suspicious.

"Flower girl, you're just being silly. He has to take a break from glaring at the world to go to the bathroom every once in a while." Naruto told her firmly. Sakura sighed, but she kept her eyes trained on the door, and the clock.

"How are you two getting along?"

"We're getting along fine." Naruto replied quickly. Then, he scowled as he remembered something, "And thanks a lot for leaving me alone with him last night! Flower girl, you know I don't like being alone with him!"

"No, I didn't know. You never told me that. For the record, if you're getting along fine than what's the problem with being alone with him?"

Naruto bit on his bottom lip a little, wondering if he should tell Flower girl. This really had been bothering him. But yet, he was a bit embarrassed to tell anyone about it, even if it was just Flower girl. Well, he might as well give it a shot.

"Whenever I'm alone with him, and he looks at me, or is close to me, my tummy get's this tickly feeling that I really don't like." Naruto mumbled, fiddling with his lunch, "And when you're there, he pays attention to you, so I don't have those feelings."

"Um, Naruto…" He looked up at Sakura, hoping she was going to tell him she'd be taking the afternoon off so she could stay with him. But instead her face was slightly red and very serious, "Can you describe more what these 'tickly feelings' feel like to you?"

"I get really warm, like I'm wearing too many jackets, and like I want to throw up. But I kind of want more of the tickly feelings, but at the same time I don't. And they make me shiver, like I'm really cold." Naruto thought that, as he explained it, he continually contradicted himself. But Flower girl knew a lot, so she'd probably understand.

"Are you sure that's what you're feeling, Naruto?" Flower girl asked him nervously. Naruto glared at her, yes he was sure. He'd just told her, hadn't he?

"Those feelings you're describing fit the bill for a crush, do you know what that is?" Naruto shook his head, no. "You know how a married couple loves each other right?"

"Yeah. They kiss and make funny lovey-dovey faces." Naruto imitated one, making kissy faces in a mocking way.

"Well, a crush is like those types of feelings, only not as strong. You usually get them when you're younger."

Flower girl stared intently at the table, picking bits of Naruto's French fries off his plate. He didn't bother to stop her, she needed to fidget. Naruto started eating again too. He would have preferred her not knowing over her telling him _this_. How could Naruto have lovey-dovey feelings for Sasuke? He was a boy! Those were the type of feelings that boys and girls had for each other when they were older. It was the strict woman-man arrangement that had gone on forever. Naruto had never questioned this conspiracy, and accepted it as a part of life he would one day have to participate in. But he'd never heard of two boys having those kind of feelings for each other. That and the thought of the other boy being _Sasuke_ just made Naruto sick.

Finally, Sasuke and Kakashi returned and sat down. They looked at Sakura and Naruto and then back at each other again. Kakashi was the one that broke the silence, "I have a feeling we missed something really important while we were gone."

"Yeah, thanks a lot, getting us lost. You were supposed to be the one showing me where it was!" Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto didn't respond to either of them, and he scooted a little bit away from Sasuke. The tickles had come back, and now that he knew what they were, Naruto wanted to avoid them even more. A few seconds later the bell rang and everyone started standing up and saying goodbye. Flower girl went back to the hospital and Kakashi left, hugging Naruto briefly and apologizing for having to go. Sasuke was the only one who stayed and Naruto felt like yelling at him, 'Go away! I don't wanna have the crushes for you!' But of course, to yell something like that would be to admit it, and Naruto didn't want to _ever_ tell Sasuke about that. _EVER_. They returned to Naruto's room, and suddenly Naruto wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. What did one do with a scowling, glaring, tickly making Sasuke? Naruto had no idea. He shuffled over to his bed and clambered onto it, curling up into a ball.

Sasuke followed him, (much to Naruto's dismay) and fell back onto the bed. He lay near the pillows at the top with his arms stretched out horizontal on either side. His right arm lay a few inches behind Naruto's back, as he was lying on his side, facing out towards the rest of the room. The top of Naruto's hair was brushing against Sasuke's ribcage. Again with the almost touching, not touching, could be touching. It was frustrating. Naruto hated it. He glared childishly at the room, but mostly he wanted to glare at Sasuke. But he couldn't really without proving that something was wrong. Then Sasuke would ask about it and Naruto would avoid the topic and it would just be weird.

"So, while Kakashi and I were 'in the bathroom'." Sasuke began, and Naruto giggled, "We somehow found our way to the administrative offices and asked if we could take you out for the rest of the afternoon, as long as we had you back in time for dinner."

Naruto gasped, rolling onto his belly and then instantly propping himself up on his hands and knees. He stared at Sasuke expectantly.

"And after we got them to say yes, we kindly asked them where the bathroom was and went there." Sasuke turned his head and made that funny smile of his at Naruto. It wasn't really a smile, but it wasn't his 'mean smile', it was more of a 'haha I know something you don't' smile. Naruto liked it.

"And…?"

"In ten minutes or so, Kakashi will be back and we'll sign you out. Then, you and I are going to go to a park and play good guys and bad guys." Naruto was smiling so much it hurt, "But there is one condition."

"What?"

"You can't tell Flower girl, because she might get sad."

"Like about the dream thing?"

"Yeah."

Naruto wasn't sure he understood how the two were related. Flower girl wouldn't be sad or mad if they went and played good guys and bad guys, would she? It didn't make sense to Naruto. However, he didn't dwell much on it as he was just far too happy to concentrate on potential worries. He beamed at Sasuke and wiggled from side to side on his hands and knees. Finally he asked Sasuke what he'd been wanting to for the past few minutes.

"Sasukeeeee."

"What, dobe?"

"I know you're all about the no touching thing, but can I hug you please? Just this once?" If it had been Flower girl there would have been no 'asking' process. Naruto would have simply tackled her upon hearing such fabulous news as a day out of the sanatorium. But Sasuke was…_weird_.

"No." Sasuke laughed at the idea and resumed staring at the ceiling.

Naruto pouted, but, deciding it was worth the risk, he dove on top of Sasuke. The look on Sasuke's face was worth the soon to come reprimand. Naruto had practically belly flopped the short distance and landed on Sasuke's stomach with a loud 'oof' sound. Sasuke coughed and glared as Naruto hugged him thoroughly. Naruto listened as Sasuke made his customary 'You're _touching_ me' remark and ignored it with ease. The ticklish feelings were back, but he truly didn't care. He hadn't been outside the sanatorium in a little over a year. This was truly something to be celebrated. After Naruto had refused to get off of him Sasuke grunted in annoyance but didn't bother shoving him off.

Sasuke relaxed completely beneath him and shut his eyes as though he were going to sleep. Naruto followed his example, but as soon as he let his guard down, that was when Sasuke struck. He lifted Naruto off of him and tossed him lightly down the bed so that he was on the opposite side. Naruto scowled at him and made to crawl back to his position but Sasuke gave him a warning glare. He then, also, pointedly said, 'I threw you once, I can do it again'. Naruto sighed and flopped over on his back, and then on his side, facing away from Sasuke. This was when the door to his room opened and Kakashi entered.

"C'mon you two, we only have five hours."

Naruto leapt up and hurried over to Kakashi eagerly. He was so excited he could barely stand it. In fact, he started bouncing up and down in place. Kakashi shared a triumphant look with Sasuke, and the both of them led Naruto outside (after signing him out of course). Once outside Sasuke and Kakashi bickered over whether or not they should simply walk to 'the park' or teleport there with jutsu. Eventually they decided it would faster and easier to teleport the three of them, and Kakashi was the one who performed the technique. Naruto felt, at that moment, that teleporting was one of the strangest feelings in the world. Well, next to 'crushes'. Those were definitely odd. But teleporting was the second weirdest.

The area they arrived in didn't quite look like a park. But it triggered a strong feeling in Naruto that he couldn't quite understand. It was like he'd been there before, something important had happened there. He looked up at the shining sun in the clear blue sky, and then around at the tall trees and the bright green grass. Kakashi waved goodbye to Sasuke, and hugged Naruto before leaving them alone to play their game. When Kakashi left, that was when Naruto figured it out. This was his dream. He looked at Sasuke and grinned, gazing at his surroundings and realizing that everything was perfect. Every detail was in place. How could Sasuke have known exactly where he dream was? Even Naruto didn't know that it actually existed. He'd thought it was just some place conjured up for his dream. But apparently not.

"Alright, do you want to be the good guy, or the bad guy?" Sasuke asked.

For Naruto there was no real question required, "Bad guy, of course. Cuz you get to do the evil laugh!"

Naruto then demonstrated his evil laugh and Sasuke shook his head. Then their game started. Naruto chased Sasuke all over the clearing and through the trees a bit. Sasuke proved to be a tough opponent when it came to 'good guys and bad guys'. In the end, Naruto got him and they both collapsed onto the grass, exhausted. The sun was starting its descent, and the sky was turning a sort of pinkish purple. Naruto took in a deep breath, and let it out, closing his eyes in pure happiness. This was a good day. The peaceful moment was interrupted by Kakashi appearing. He told them that he was there to take them to get ramen. Naruto turned to Sasuke and saw how proud of himself he looked.

They did in fact go for ramen, and it was very good. Naruto liked it immensely. After Kakashi took them back to the sanatorium he simply dropped them off and allowed Sasuke to take him back to his room. Once inside, Naruto ran around his room, bouncing up and down happily. He had just had more fun than he had in a long time. Sasuke watched him with a bemused expression and motioned for him to come over. He did so, and Sasuke scratched the back of his head, looking at him in a questioning manner.

"So…I know it probably wasn't exactly the same, but did I do a good job? Was that what your dream was like?" Sasuke peered down at him hopefully. Naruto nodded to him, smiling.

"It was exactly the same, I loved it." Naruto threw himself at Sasuke without hesitation and murmured against his chest, "Thank you."

Sasuke wedged his hand between his chest and Naruto's forehead and pried him of like he was peeling off a scab. Naruto giggled at Sasuke's antics, but frowned when the bell rang, meaning he had to go to dinner. He'd just eaten! He wasn't hungry! Sasuke gave him a pointed look, and Naruto sighed. He waved goodbye and goodnight to Sasuke who returned the gesture with a small nod. Then, Naruto was out the door, and Sasuke was out of sight.

* * *

Sasuke sat down at the lunch table in the cafeteria and talked eagerly with Kakashi. This was actually the first time he'd spoken to the man, despite the fact that he'd been home a little over a week now. Sakura was keeping Naruto and herself busy with their own conversation which left Sasuke to begin planning with Kakashi. Naruto had made him promise not to tell Sakura about the dream, but he had mentioned nothing about not telling Kakashi. Plus, it was only fair, as Kakashi had been a part of the dream too. There they formulated a plan to recreate the dream in real life, and take Naruto out of the sanatorium for the day. It took a while, but they managed to convincingly leave the cafeteria and 'go to the bathroom'.

During that time, Kakashi led Sasuke to the administrative offices so they could beg for a day out for Naruto. It was not easy. The administrator put up a good fight, but ultimately with Sasuke's manipulation and Kakashi's 'good man' reputation they managed to win him over. On the way back they really did stop at the bathroom, as Sasuke actually did need to use it. Then, Sasuke took Kakashi back to Naruto's room where he showed him the picture of the dream, and of Kakashi.

Kakashi picked up the picture of himself that Naruto had drawn and glanced up at Sasuke, "He really drew this for you?"

"He told me that in his dream, a 'grown up' he thought was his dad came and got them and took them to get ramen."

"Dad?" Kakashi scoffed, yet he never took his eyes off the drawing. "That's Iruka."

"But he did draw this picture to show me what he looked like." Kakashi ignored him so Sasuke added, "Well, obviously if he remembers anything he's going to remember it wrong the first time. Keep in mind he remembers me as his best friend."

"But you _were_ best friends." Kakashi told him. Sasuke chose to ignore that. If Kakashi could be selectively deaf, than so could he.

Kakashi set down the paper back where he'd found it. He sighed through his mask and looked up at Sasuke. He appeared as though he were going to say something, but was thinking better of it. Sasuke grumbled, 'what?'

"You have no idea how much this would hurt Sakura if she found out about this." Kakashi paused, "She was the one, that through it all visited Naruto every day. Some of the others did meet him, and visit him once or twice, but she was the one who put forth the effort."

"And he doesn't remember her at all." Sasuke finished.

"And then, after all this time he tells you about this dream, what is she going to think if we really do make this 'dream' happen for Naruto? How do you think Sakura is going to feel?"

Sasuke headed for the door, throwing casually over his shoulder, "So we don't tell her."

"What about Naruto? Do we tell him to not tell her, too?"

"Exactly."

"Sasuke-"

"Kakashi, I need your help for this. The best chance I have of getting Naruto to remember more is to try and bring him around things that are familiar and that he's already starting to remember." Sasuke growled, "To completely recreate this dream I need you to be there. Stop worrying about Sakura and think about how happy we'll make Naruto by doing this."

"Why do you care about making him remember you if you left him in the first place? Wasn't it your goal to sever your ties with him?"

Sasuke froze. Kakashi had to say that, of all things. He whirled around and marched right up to his former teacher and hissed, "How dare you say that? You don't know anything about me, _sensei_. You never have, and you never will."

* * *

When they reentered the cafeteria and sat down there was a palpable tension. Sasuke could feel it rolling off the both of them in waves. His bickered with Kakashi about getting them lost, to try and lighten the mood, and maybe find out what happened. But both Sakura and Naruto dutifully ignored him. After Kakashi and Sakura left he and Naruto returned to his room. On the way Naruto walked a little bit ahead of him, and when they arrived there was the first to hurry into the room. He decisively shuffled over to the bed and collapsed upon it. Whatever it was that had happened at the lunch table while Kakashi and he were gone, it had been something big. Sasuke went over to the bed and crawled up next to Naruto. He ignored him, not starting a conversation at all. So naturally Sasuke was forced to start it, even if he was revealing his surprised plan for the day, Naruto still radiated awkwardness.

Yet, when Sasuke managed to fully explain his and Kakashi's idea, Naruto had looked so happy that Sasuke felt truly proud of himself. Of course, Naruto just had to throw himself at him, nearly knocking all the wind out of him. Sasuke was just glad he hadn't choked on his own vomit. The force with which Naruto had landed on his stomach, theoretically, should have pushed all of the contents of his stomach out of his mouth. Thankfully, however, this was not the case. Instead he merely couldn't breathe. A less messy, but ultimately uncomfortable position. When he tried to get Naruto off of him, he refused. So, he had to sneakily find a way. He had an idea. Pretending to fall asleep he waited for Naruto to relax. Then, he picked up the blonde and tossed him to the end of the bed. He made sure Naruto stayed there until Kakashi showed up. That was when the fun filled day truly started.

Sasuke and Naruto played 'good guys and bad guys' for hours. Eventually Sasuke allowed Naruto to 'get him' and they collapsed onto the grass in exhaustion. It was in this moment that Sasuke really did feel _exhausted_, both emotionally and physically. He'd put so much into the past several days he wanted to just curl up and sleep for a week. But Sasuke knew he couldn't do that, at least, not yet. He still had to finish the dream. Kakashi took them to get some ramen, and for a brief moment in time, Sasuke felt like everything was normal. Naruto ate bucketfuls of ramen, several of them. Though technically, for Naruto, because of the memory loss, this was the first time he'd tried ramen. As to be expected, he loved it.

Kakashi provided transport back to the sanatorium, but then quickly left them. Sasuke guessed he probably still wasn't happy with Sasuke's comment from earlier that day. They headed back inside, and Sasuke signed Naruto back in. Once in the room, Sasuke watched as Naruto happily ran around his room. How he still had energy after their afternoon in the training grounds, Sasuke had no idea. He motioned for the hyperactive blonde blur to come over to him, and he did so. In an act of total unreasonableness, Sasuke asked Naruto if he'd done good. He made sure he'd gotten the dream right. Naruto assured him he'd loved it, and then, he just had to hug him. Sasuke scowled. Granted Naruto had always been rather physically affectionate, Sasuke still had to get used to it again. It would take some time. Sasuke pushed Naruto off of him and glared, though not nearly as harshly as usual. He didn't have the energy. The bell rang, and Naruto scampered off to dinner. Even though he'd already eaten, it was required for him to be there.

Sasuke signed out, and went back to the estate, completely worn out. However, he managed to force himself to sleep in his parents' room. The alarm clock was in there. He set it for six, that way he could get up early, eat breakfast at home, and get to the sanatorium in time to wake Naruto up. This also was his defense mechanism to ward off being woken up by Sakura. One time being woken up by Sakura was enough for him. To be honest, if she insulted his manhood again, or woke him up and followed him around his house, he would punch her. So what if she had a vag? She was a ninja, she was strong, and she could take a hit. Technically, all of these things made it no longer wrong for him, as a man, to hit her, a woman. At least, in Sasuke's mind it made sense. He was sure there would be _someone_ who would try and argue with him.

Sakura had gained her insane strength from Tsunade, she had picked up the same technique. Orochimaru had found a way to deal with it, and he had explained it to Sasuke at one point. What was it? Sasuke honestly couldn't remember. He removed his shirt, and fell into bed easily passing out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Over the next few days, Sasuke developed a steady rhythm. He woke up at six, showered, got dressed, and ate breakfast. Then, he went to the sanatorium and signed himself in. Off he would go to Naruto's bedroom, (which he now had no trouble finding) and he would wake Naruto up. They would go to breakfast. While Naruto went to various activities to which Sasuke could not accompany him, Sasuke went back to Naruto's room and cleaned it for him. Depending on the day, Sasuke would, after lunch with Sakura, go to art group with Naruto. Those lunches with Sakura were becoming increasingly awkward, and tense. Sasuke wasn't quite sure why, but he knew that he'd find out soon enough. Sakura could only keep something to herself for too long before she snapped completely.

Naruto was trying desperately to get him into coloring. Sasuke was resisting this movement at all costs, but to no avail. By the third day, Sasuke was sitting next to him, intently coloring a pony. But, all of this was paying off. Naruto was remembering more about the boy in his dreams, and about his 'dad'. Whenever he remembered something new, he would draw a picture about it, or tell Sasuke. They were always little things, like what kind of food they liked. But sometimes there were things that Naruto remembered that had Sasuke leaving the room for a minute to calm himself down. One such thing that required calming was when Naruto remembered a night spent out on a field beneath the stars with Sasuke and Kakashi and some girl who he considered unimportant. He remembered how they'd felt like such a family, and that it was important because neither he nor the other boy had had a family. Kakashi, and that girl had become their family. Though Naruto still hadn't figured out that Kakashi was the 'dad' figure, or that Sasuke was 'that boy' he was making remarkable progress.

One night, when Sasuke came home, there was someone already waiting for him. Sakura was sitting in the kitchen, drinking some coffee. Sasuke glared at her, and was sorely tempted to hit her _before_ he asked her why she was in his house. But he held himself back.

"Why are you here?" He snapped.

"I have something important to tell you, Sasuke."

Sasuke waved her off and started walking away from her when she added, "It's about Naruto."

He paused and waited for her to tell him what she needed to so she could leave. She hesitantly said, "I think Naruto has a crush on you."

Sasuke laughed out loud at that one. That was just the craziest thing he'd heard yet. "Good night Sakura!"

"No, Sasuke, wait! He told me about it that day that Kakashi had lunch with us!"

This had Sasuke interested. Something like that was definitely big enough to have put Naruto out of sorts. He poked his head around the corner to look at Sakura. She further explained how Naruto had told her about the 'ticklish feelings' he'd been having. Sure enough, all the feelings he'd described to Sakura sure sounded like a crush to Sasuke. But the whole idea made him want to laugh it off and pretend it didn't exist, because technically, Naruto was mentally a seven year old. If Sasuke were to take advantage of the situation, not saying he wanted to (he most certainly didn't), that would make him a very, very bad man. After Sakura had told him everything he needed to know, and then some (such as how little she'd slept and how much she'd been thinking about the whole idea), he roughly shoved her out the door and locked it. Sasuke went to bed, and had a lot of trouble sleeping.

**TBC…

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	5. Chapter 5

**Mad World**

Chapter 5 - We're late for dinner

* * *

What one didn't know, couldn't hurt them. This phrase, Sasuke decided, applied to most situations when not knowing something was a key factor. For instance, ever since he'd found out the previous night that Naruto might, probably, sort of, kinda, potentially had a crush on him Sasuke was completely out of it. All of the things Naruto did around him Sasuke had been passing off as childish affection. But more and more, when Naruto would tackle him, he would hold on as long as he could, as though his life depended on it. Earlier in the game he had only held on for as long as it took Sasuke to chuck him across the room or glare in a sufficiently frightening way. This was no longer the case. That, and Sasuke was finding it exceedingly difficult to say 'when'.

Currently, Sasuke was lying in Naruto's bed. He had his head propped up on the comfortable pillows while he watched Naruto draw at the end of the bed. Naruto had scampered over to his desk an hour or so ago and grabbed a clipboard, some blank paper and crayons. Then he'd made himself suitably entangled in Sasuke's calves and ankles and begun to draw peacefully with only the occasional humming. Meanwhile, a half used coloring book had been shoved Sasuke's way, along with some of Naruto's crayons that he didn't entirely like the color of. They'd both reached that peaceful slump in the day where neither of them was up for playing anything or talking. So they would settle comfortably together on the bed and color, or nap. At the moment they were coloring.

The one thing that was taking up a good deal of space in Sasuke's mind besides Naruto's possible crush on him was exactly what Naruto was remembering. With very little planning or consideration of consequences, Sasuke had hiked the remembering process into high gear, and so naturally Naruto had been recalling a great deal in his usual abstract way. However, what Sasuke hadn't planned for, was Naruto remembering things that were less than pleasant. Naruto was beginning to recover his memories of being an outcast, of having no parents and living alone. Images of jeering faces, and cruel children on the playground were becoming common for Naruto to suddenly think of. Sasuke worried at any moment that Naruto would remember something particularly horrific, like a previous injury or some extremely unkind words. So, he'd made sure that today he would not purposefully call forth any memories whatsoever, and that they would have a calm lazy day.

Sasuke knew that eventually he would have to allow Naruto to remember everything, for that was the only way that the old Naruto would truly come back. But, for now, Sasuke wanted to protect the mentally seven year old boy for as long as possible. That, also, was another issue. Sasuke was sure that Naruto was no longer mentally seven, and perhaps had aged a few years. There were a great deal of his habits and mannerisms that were still decidedly seven, but certain comments would suddenly blurt out of his mouth that had Sasuke wondering. He seemed extremely more mature in some ways, and exceptionally immature in others. It was confusing and worrisome. Sasuke was never sure what he could or couldn't say. Naruto seemed to sense Sasuke's staring for he casually glanced up at him and smiled. Sasuke smiled back and poked Naruto in the neck with one foot when he'd tried to tickle him. But when Sasuke saw Naruto carefully set his clipboard and crayons on the floor, he knew what game was approaching him. In preparation, Sasuke too set his coloring instruments aside and braced himself for Naruto's eventual assault.

Naruto peeled one of Sasuke's socks off his feet with surprising speed and latched onto his ankle. Then, Sasuke was subjected to expert tickling and he writhed around on the bed, trying to hold in his laughter. But of course it was no use, in a very un-Uchiha-like way he crowed with laughter trying to gain the upper hand and get Naruto away from his sensitive feet. Soon enough Sasuke managed to yank Naruto up towards him and pin him to the bed. He locked Naruto's leg straight and breezed his fingers gently over the back of Naruto's knees, earning squeals and giggles out of the blonde who wriggled in Sasuke's hold. When Naruto managed to jerk free from Sasuke's grip, he began to scoot away to get his breath. But after several times of playing this game Sasuke was an expert, he grabbed Naruto, pinned him down and planted a well-executed raspberry on Naruto's bared hip. But, while playing this sort of game, one's brain begins to act slower than the rest of the body. So, of course, Sasuke only realized his great error in judgment after he'd already lifted up Naruto's shirt a bit more and had his tongue partially out of his mouth.

"Sasukeeeee." Naruto's previous squeal of laughter was now slightly different in tone. Sasuke looked up at Naruto's face and discovered just how wrong of a position he was now in.

Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, Sasuke summoned all of his will power and moved away from Naruto on the bed. The blonde's soft, husky pants grew slower and more even as he rolled over onto his stomach. Sasuke looked away from him, ashamed of his actions, and surprised that Naruto had not stopped him, or noticed the oddness of the situation. Naruto gazed at Sasuke and crawled over to him. But afraid he would do something else he regretted Sasuke avoided Naruto's touch again. Because Sasuke was so focused on keeping his eyes off of his companion he hadn't seen the tears welling in the blonde's eyes. It was the subtle sniffling that caught his attention. Sasuke looked over at Naruto to find him shyly staring at the blankets, trying pitifully to keep himself from crying. Sasuke sighed; he grabbed Naruto by the shoulder of his t-shirt and brought him closer.

However, Naruto did not cling to him, he rested limp against Sasuke's hand on his shoulder. This was something that Naruto had started doing lately. When Naruto was happy, and excited, he would tackle Sasuke and hug him without warning. But when he was sad, or on the verge of tears he would cautiously avoid touching, allowing Sasuke to choose the distance between them. Sasuke had never been good with crying people. He figured it was because, he, himself, cried so little. Sakura was always the one who could magically appear when someone was crying, take them into her arms and say nothing. She would instantly comfort the person, even if they didn't really know each other very well. Sasuke had called it the 'whaaaaa-mbulance' syndrome. If Sasuke tried to comfort people, (which generally he made a point not to) he failed miserably. Sasuke slowly, carefully pulled Naruto into his lap and held him. It was difficult to move him and to adjust their position because Naruto, when he got like this, literally became a dead weight. He wouldn't move, and in worst case scenarios, would simply stop breathing all together. (This had only happened once, thankfully).

"What's wrong, dobe?" Sasuke asked softly.

"I'm sorry, I made you mad." Naruto whispered.

"You didn't make me mad." This was true; Sasuke was mostly confused with himself.

"But you kept moving away from me, like those kids I remember."

It was Sasuke's turn to stop breathing for a moment. He hadn't thought of it that way. No wonder Naruto was crying. The memory of people avoiding him, avoiding touching him, avoiding looking at him or talking to him was one that Naruto had hated more than any other. In his life at the sanatorium everyone was kind of him. He had many friends. All of their peers, such as Shikamaru, Hinata, and Kiba who came to visit him had always offered hugs and were very physically affectionate. So in this new childhood that Naruto was experiencing, he'd never been shut out or ostracized in such a manner. To recall something so completely opposite of that had taken a large toll on Naruto's self-security. Sasuke let out a shaky breath and hugged Naruto tightly against him, trying to reassure him as much as he could.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about that. I didn't mean to remind you of it."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Sasuke felt Naruto relax against him, and snuggle closer. Slowly, Sasuke leant them both back against the pillows and headboard. Naruto adjusted himself, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's torso, and straddling his stomach. If it had been any other situation, Sasuke might have forced Naruto off of him and given him a cold, but harmless glare. Now, Sasuke couldn't find it in himself to push Naruto away from him. There were several opportunities where he could have. But Sasuke calmly let them slip away as Naruto fell into a weary slumber on top of him. He thought of all the things Sakura would say to him if she found out he'd quite nearly given Naruto a hickey on his hip. She would punch him and call him all manners of obscenities, and he would deserve it. But for right now, Sasuke was content to pass out with his arms wrapped around Naruto's waist, one pinky innocently curled around the belt loop on the back of his jeans.

* * *

Naruto was awoken by a shrill bell ringing. He jerked awake, looking around him wondering where he was. Last thing he remembered he was standing before Orochimaru and Sasuke, pleading with Sasuke to come home. Then Orochimaru had used a genjutsu on him…he thought. Where was he? Naruto glanced beneath him to see none other than Sasuke. The raven haired man was just barely opening his eyes, and he looked very sleepy. This was when Naruto realized that Sasuke had his arms around him, Naruto leapt away from him, feeling very, very confused. Sasuke was giving him an odd look.

"Naruto are you okay?" Sasuke asked, "We need to head down to the cafeteria for dinner. I think Kakashi is coming to eat with us tonight."

"Am I okay? Am I okay?!" Naruto exclaimed, "Are you fucking kidding me? One minute you're standing next to crazy snake man watching me beg for you to come home, and the next I'm waking up in your arms in who knows where?"

Sasuke's eyes widened drastically and his mouth actually dropped open. Naruto had never seen him so shocked in his entire knowing him. But he wasn't going to let that get in the way of him finding out what was going on. His eyes flew around the room, taking everything in. It looked like a regular bedroom, except that the floor was cement, and cool to his feet. There was a calendar on the wall, but it was for two years from now. He turned his eyes back onto Sasuke who was shaking slightly.

"Naruto…how…" Sasuke stuttered, "You remember me, you remember Orochimaru?"

"Of course I do, how could I forget the best friend who ran away from me and tried to kill me?!" Naruto huffed, but his glare towards Sasuke was weakening as he saw how much his words were affecting his friend.

Naruto gasped as a sharp pain struck him, it was like someone had hit him over the head with a hammer. He stumbled forward a bit, and then looked around. What had just happened? He felt very weak, and sleepy. Naruto stretched a bit, and turned to look at the clock. Oh no! They were late for dinner! How long had they been sleeping? Naruto whirled around to face Sasuke again and found him staring at him like he was a bull about to charge.

"Sasuke?" He asked timidly, "Are you okay? We need to go to dinner, we're already late."

Sasuke nodded, though his eyes were wide, and he looked like he was about to collapse. Naruto padded over to him and took him by the hand, leading him towards the door.

**TBC…

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	6. Chapter 6

**A/n:** All I have to say right now...is don't hate me. :D Kfanx.

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* * *

Mad World**

Chapter 6 - We turned out okay

* * *

How…what…

Two words. That was all Sasuke was capable of thinking, saying. His brain had somehow shut down. For barely more than a minute he had Naruto back, the real one, and all Sasuke could say to him were those two words. Even though his friend had been angry at him, Sasuke didn't care. He was just so happy to have him back…but then, just like that he was gone. Naruto, the little kid who'd been not so innocently in his arms a few minutes prior to the episode had returned. Now, Sasuke was not one for tears. He liked to think that even in excruciating agony he would not shed a tear. No, instead he would scream in rage, _manly_ rage. But right now he wasn't angry, just very…empty. He'd allowed the scared, childish Naruto to lead him through the halls by the hand, towards the cafeteria. Sasuke knew this was a problem. He had to tell the doctors and counselors here about what had just happened. That wasn't normal. For him to shift like that, it just…wasn't right. Right?

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked worriedly.

They were sitting down in the cafeteria now, eating macaroni and cheese for dinner. Naruto was sitting opposite him at their usual table, watching him cautiously. Sasuke glanced up at Naruto and forced a smile, with great difficulty, onto his face. For Naruto's sake. Apparently he'd done well, as Naruto returned the gesture and resumed eating. If the nurses found out about this, they'd move him to the high security wing. The hostility that Naruto had shown as himself, while reasonable for the situation, was worrisome. So, what would most likely happen is he'd be diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and be moved to a much better contained space. This would only happen due to the fact that one of his personalities was a highly qualified ninja with the kyuubi sealed inside him. Sasuke wouldn't be allowed to visit him after he was moved. Well, he didn't know for sure, but it was a likely assumption to make.

"Sasukeee, are you sure you're okay?" Naruto pestered.

Sasuke shot a smirk Naruto's way and murmured, "I'm fine Naruto, now eat your dinner already. I want to get back to my nap."

Naruto blushed furiously while Sasuke internally cringed at himself. He made up his mind. He could explain to older Naruto what was going on, but not the younger one. So the next time he showed up, Sasuke would be ready. He would tell Naruto everything, as quickly as possible. Maybe then…Sasuke smiled. Maybe he could bring Naruto back for good; with his help…It was a long shot. A very, _very_ long shot. But it gave Sasuke hope. When Naruto was almost done, Sasuke grabbed his dinner and tossed it, much to Naruto's chagrin.

"Sasukeee-"

"C'mon, nap time, now." Sasuke ordered.

He didn't so much want his nap time as he wanted to get Naruto out of the public area just in case older Naruto came back. It was just as they were heading out the door that they bumped into Kakashi, who had in fact chosen to come and see them. Sasuke growled inwardly.

"Done with dinner already?" Kakashi inquired in bewilderment.

"Naruto is, but I was gonna go back and get something in a few minutes if you'd like to _join_ me." Sasuke coughed, giving Kakashi a less than subtle look.

"Ah, I see. I'll wait for you there, then."

"But Sasukeeee, I want to talk to Kakashi too!"

Sasuke firmly put his hands on Naruto's shoulders and pushed him ahead, "And you will, now please go wait in your room for a minute. Kakashi and I need to talk about important things."

"Grown up things?" Naruto mumbled.

"Yes, grown up things."

"Okaaay."

With that, Naruto hurried off down the corridor. Sasuke watched him carefully disappear around a corner before turning around and heading back into the cafeteria. Kakashi was patiently waiting for him at the table, his eyes scanning the page of his favorite porno. Sasuke rolled his eyes. There were children all around him and he had the atrocity to read porn? He sat down heavily across from Kakashi, coughing subtly to get his attention. Kakashi looked up, marking his page and setting the book down.

Sasuke stared awkwardly at the older man before him and felt like a small child coming to their parent with a nightmare. There was something that Sakura had said to him after his first few days back that had haunted him every time he saw Kakashi. When mentioning him, she'd slipped up and called him 'dad' of all things. Sasuke had pointed her mistake out to her and Sakura had flushed slightly. She'd told him that Kakashi really was like a father to her, and Sasuke had snorted at that. Sakura told him shortly that her dad had never really noticed her existence, and her mother had always expected too much out of her. In the end, she'd more or less been raised by Kakashi once he'd become their teacher. Sasuke could have agreed with that statement for her, but when she attempted to relate her feelings to him as well, Sasuke had growled at her and shut her out quickly. He had snapped, '_Well, if he was our dad, don't you think he did a pretty crappy job?_' Sakura had shook her head, her face bittersweet, '_Nah, I think we turned out okay._'

"You wanted to talk to me about 'grown up' things?" Kakashi prompted, apparently Sasuke had been so deep in thought he'd forgotten that Kakashi was actually sitting in front of him.

"Oh, um…yeah." Sasuke gazed at the table, running his fingers over it in various patterns.

He was fidgeting. He, Sasuke Uchiha was-that wasn't an excuse anymore, he realized sadly. Sakura was right, he was emotionally constipated. He didn't want to cry, per-se, but he just…he just wanted…Kakashi to make his nightmare go away. That was all. He really was acting like just as much of a little kid as Naruto was, only he had no excuse. Sasuke was simply tired, and weak, and so hurt that he couldn't fathom how to explain it accurately with words. So here he was, a little kid, wandered into the proverbial parent's bedroom, trying to ask if he could crawl into bed and sleep with them so he wouldn't have any more nightmares. Sasuke was so _tired_ of nightmares. Kakashi eyed him, as though he were trying to read his body language for the worst.

"Da-" Sasuke jerked to a halt. No. He wasn't Sakura. He hadn't said it. He hadn't-Sasuke glanced at Kakashi's face-oh he had.

"Did you just call me _Dad_?" Kakashi questioned irritably as though he were thoroughly offended.

"Sakura started it!" Sasuke couldn't believe the words that were leaving his mouth.

"You make me sound so old! I'm not the dad type, what was Sakura thinking? Do I look like the type to raise kids-"

"We seemed to turn out okay…" Sasuke mumbled weakly.

Kakashi did not grace that statement with a response. He stared fixedly at the table, unable to make a sound. Sasuke, not one for tears, no. One for anxiety attacks, yes. His mouth opened wide, like he was screaming, and pants of air came out uneven and without his permission. His eyes were locked onto the table, and his hands gripped the edge until he knuckles were ten times paler than the rest of him. Sasuke shook, and trembled, sincerely afraid that he might vomit on Kakashi. Stress, it turned out, had a huge impact on your body. A light pressure on his back, and Sasuke attempted to turn around and see who had the nerve to touch him. Kakashi was sitting next to him, rubbing his back as soothingly as he could for a sort of-dad. Soon enough, the embarrassing ordeal was over, and Sasuke was glaring at the floor in complete embarrassment.

"C'mon, let's go check on Naruto, and then we can go get some ramen." Kakashi stood up and strode confidently out of the cafeteria. Sasuke dutifully followed him, thankful for Kakashi not turning that moment into something lengthy and sentimental.

But before Sasuke had gotten to the room Kakashi had run back to him, looking more than a little shell-shocked.

"Kakashi, what's going on?"

"Naruto's not in his room and the nurses haven't seen him."

That was the moment where Sasuke the cold hearted avenger, thought he might just cry.

* * *

Naruto was back in that room again! He scowled deeply at everything, because there was no Sasuke to interrogate. He wasn't in the room with him. Naruto opened the door behind him and peered out into the long hallways. He had to find out what was going on. Naruto was supposed to be rescuing Sasuke, but he'd already established the bastard was here with him. Were they still in Orochimaru's compound? That wouldn't explain the position he'd woken up in though. Naruto blushed slightly at the thought. Sasuke had never been one for cuddling, or physical affection of any type, so why start now? Naruto moved through the hallways silently, moving as fast as he dare. If he was still in Orochimaru's base than they'd be able to sense his chakra, so he conserved it as much as possible. After getting lost a few times, Naruto came to a…lobby? There was an elderly woman standing at a desk on one side of the room, and a crackling fire on the other. Where _was_ he? Naruto swept past the woman in the room and out the apparent doors on the other side, relishing in the fact that she hadn't appeared to have seen him.

Suddenly, Naruto was very, very confused. He was in Konoha. Naruto could tell, he could see the village from where he was standing. He spun around and stared wide eyed at the exterior of the place he'd just come from. _The sanatorium?_ Naruto thought in bewilderment, _What__ was I doing in there? _Maybe they'd succeeded in the mission! Naruto felt hope swell in his chest, maybe he'd just been knocked out or something, and they'd finally brought Sasuke home. Sakura would know. Didn't she work at the hospital? Naruto sped through town, eager to confront his friend. Sasuke was home, Sasuke was home, Sasuke was home. That was all Naruto could think about. The excitement that spread through him was building into an overwhelming euphoria. As he approached the hospital he ran smack-dab into Sakura who had apparently just gotten off work. She looked surprised to see him, angry, and worried all at the same time. Naruto pushed these observations aside. He had to talk to her, and he was feeling suddenly very sleepy.

"Sakura! Sasuke's here, in Konoha, did the mission succeed? Was I just, like, out or something? Why didn't you wake me up?!" Naruto fired several questions at her, only to have Sakura start crying.

"Sakura…what's wrong? Did…did the mission fail? Was I just seeing things?" Naruto looked down at the ground bitterly. This sort of thing had happened before. A lot. He'd think he'd seen Sasuke, sometimes had even woken up to him in his apartment only to realize he was just imagining things. But every time it would be so real. "I thought for sure this time, that I'd seen him. Hell, I woke up lying on top of him!"

Sakura tearfully took him into her arms and held him as tight as she could; sobbing hysterically. Naruto hugged her back, unsure of what was wrong, still. The dull ache that had faded into the background before returned full force and Naruto felt like screaming. _No! I have to find out what's…__happeni__…__ng__…_Naruto swayed slightly, with Sakura in his arms. When he regained his balance he looked around in confusion. Where was he? Why was he outside?

"Flower-girl?! Where are we?!" Naruto let go of her and whirled around, staring at his surroundings in fright.

Sakura gazed at him through teary eyes, and there was a look on her face like she'd just had something precious stolen from her. She fell to her knees screaming. Naruto felt more confused than ever. He dropped to his knees and crawled over to her. He whispered her name, reaching out a tentative hand to rest it on her shoulder. When she glanced up at him again she rubbed forcefully at her eyes to push the tears away and she smiled at him. 'It's okay', she told him. As she walked him back to the sanatorium she explained that he'd probably been sleepwalking. Naruto asked her what sleepwalking was and she carefully explained that it was something that grownups did sometimes. You got up while you were dreaming and walked around and did things. She told him that he was becoming such a big boy now; it was likely that he was starting to sleepwalk. Naruto giggled, and thought about telling Sasuke about his sleepwalking. He didn't think about the fact that him and Sasuke had been curled up together, and that Sasuke had a pretty tight hold on him. So Naruto didn't think about how unlikely it was for him to have simply got up and walked away in his sleep like that.

Naruto was led back to his room by Sakura who then left him alone so she could go talk to the nurses. Sasuke and Kakashi had hurried into his room they said they'd just heard he'd come back. Naruto looked at them oddly.

"Sakura said I was sleep walking, Sasuke." Naruto told him, "But I don't think I could have sleepwalked because you were holding me."

Naruto watched Kakashi glance furtively at Sasuke who promptly looked away. Naruto didn't really know what was going on between the two grownups but figured that it probably was grownup stuff he didn't get to know about. So, Naruto went over to the bed and hopped up onto it. He hopped around, facing Sasuke with a playful grin spreading across his face.

"Oh Sasuke-teme, nap time now, remember?"

* * *

Sasuke woke up to Sakura punching him in the jaw. He scowled and gingerly touched the spot where she'd hit him. He had gotten home very late last night as Sakura had spent a good deal of time chewing him out. Then Kakashi had kind of chewed him out, more like subtly reprimanded him for 'inappropriately cuddling' with a child. He was sure to never live that down. Now however, he was wondering why exactly Sakura was punching him when she'd already yelled and screamed at him last night.

"You BASTARD!" She screeched.

Sasuke squinted blearily at her through his sleep hazed eyes. He was leaning back on his forearms in his bed. Sakura was standing next to his bed near his night table, glaring down at him like he was the root of all true evil in the world. Honestly, he had no idea what he'd done wrong. It wasn't _his_ fault that Naruto was suddenly kid!Naruto and OMFGwhat'sgoingon!Naruto at the same time. It wasn't. There was no way that Sasuke could think of, that he'd somehow triggered this split. He blankly watched Sakura pace the length of his room, throwing her arms around in violent gestures while screaming her head off. Though, despite all of this, he was tuning her out. There was nothing she could be saying he hadn't already heard. Right?

"…and now he's in the high security ward, and I can't visit him, all because you didn't keep an eye on him!"

Sasuke blinked. That was something he hadn't already heard. "…what did you just say?"

Sakura glared at him and marched out of the room, leaving his bedroom door swinging open. However, she did in fact slam the front door shut behind her. Sasuke was still feeling that, as the house was slightly shaking. Or maybe that was Sasuke himself doing the shaking. He couldn't really tell anymore. Naruto had been moved…to the high security ward? Already? He threw off his blankets and numbly moved about getting ready for the day. He showered, he dressed himself, he ate. Though all these things seemed involuntary. Then, by habit he made his way to the sanatorium. He went over to the sign in desk and gazed imploringly at the receptionist he'd gotten to know over the past week. She gave him an odd look, as though to question why he was begging with his eyes.

"Uchiha-san, you are allowed in to visit Naruto still, didn't Sakura-chan inform you?" The elderly woman questioned, "Naruto demanded that you be allowed in, so we really had no choice…"

Sasuke blinked. That was why Sakura was screaming…Naruto had asked for him, instead of her. In a very un-Uchiha-like manner Sasuke grinned. After asking for directions to Naruto's new room he hurried off without a moment's pause. Well, screw Sakura, so what if she couldn't see Naruto? It's not like she was really helping him anyways! Sasuke was the one doing any good! Sasuke was so relieved at the fact that he still got to see Naruto he didn't notice he was actually smiling. But, in all of this uncharacteristic euphoria was an odd emptiness which was emphasized when he came to the door separating the high security wing from the rest of the sanatorium. The door was blended in with the rest of the wall, except for a small doorknob that poked out. It had a lock on it, which the receptionist had barely managed to hand him a key to before he'd run off. Sasuke paused there before the blank, seemingly harmless door. From behind it he heard screaming. _Screaming_. It didn't sound pleasant there. _No wonder there aren't any rooms near here…_ Sasuke thought. _Naruto must be terrified_.

Sasuke hesitantly shoved the old key into the lock and turned it the clunk that echoed when the door unlocked making him jump. He opened the door and walked inside, feeling as if he'd walked into another dimension. He swore he thought he heard screaming. But when Sasuke entered that hallway and the door shut with a resounding thud behind him, he couldn't hear anything. He shuffled down the hallway, aware that there weren't nurses rushing around like there were in the rest of the building. Everything was oddly silent. A door opened farther down the corridor and a nurse rushed out shutting the door behind her. She looked terrible. Sasuke paused to watch her rest a shaking hand over her heart and take a few deep breaths. She looked up again and walked down the hallway in front of her, disappearing around a corner for Sasuke. Okay, so maybe Sakura was right, maybe he was horrible for not keeping an eye on Naruto. Granted, his other personality was a highly qualified ninja, the kyuubi no less, but the one he'd been under for the past two years was a little kid. A _child_. A small, probably scared witless boy who didn't know what was going on or why he'd been taken from his room he'd gotten so accustomed to.

Sasuke walked at a brisk pace down the hall, glancing from left to right at the doors and the names on them. It took him a while, and even then he couldn't find Naruto. Where were the nurses?! Sasuke whirled around, in an all consuming white world of cement floors and doors with windows that weren't possibly showing what was really in the room beyond them. The ceiling had track lighting with blinking bulbs, making him feel like he was in a horror film. Sometimes, Sasuke wondered if maybe he was just getting a little too hyped up. When he walked past certain rooms and peered through the windows in the doors he would see a man or woman curled in a ball on the floor in a straight jacket. There were often times seals on the walls meant to keep strong ninja from escaping. But if Sasuke looked away from that room for just one minute and looked back, sometimes that docile person lying on the floor had stood up and made their way to the door. Sasuke had nearly yelled at the top of his lungs when he'd turned away for half a second, and then turned back to find the face of a crazed ninja pressed up against the window in the door staring straight at him. This was where they were keeping Naruto.

Finally, after wandering aimlessly through this terrible place he stumbled upon a nurse who was making her rounds. He asked her desperately where Uzumaki, Naruto's room was. She grimaced at him, but agreed to lead him to Naruto's room. Sasuke followed her through the strange labyrinth of corridors to another door similar to the one that he'd stumbled upon when he'd first found this wing. Only this one had a very detailed, powerful seal on the door. A plastic bin was attached to the wall filled with manila filing folders. She flipped through them, leaving Sasuke nervously standing next to the door. Eventually she pulled out a thick, thick folder and used a key she wore around her neck to open the door and lead him through. There were only a handful of rooms in this hallway, and Sasuke could see the end of the hall from where he stood next to the door. There were no corners to disappear around, and the doors here had no windows in them, only name plaques.

Sasuke faintly noticed that each door had a very, very powerful seal applied to it beneath the name plaque. Before he was allowed in the nurse detailed him on the alarm he was supposed to engage should Naruto become more violent than he could handle. He was only supposed to do this if the seal she then handed him did not subdue him. Sasuke accepted the small paper from her and entered the room. The nurse did not follow him inside; she merely gave him the key to get out of the room when he decided to leave. The walls were not painted; they were plated with metal, which type Sasuke couldn't guess for the live of him. The floor and the ceiling were the same. The frame of the bed in the far corner of the room was extended out of the wall and had a very uncomfortable looking mattress resting upon it. There was little else in the room except a toilet and sink the poked out of the wall across the room. Naruto was curled up on his bed, wearing a straight jacket and the very embodiment of fear. When Sasuke entered, Naruto leapt up off of the bed and ran over to him. His shoulders moved awkwardly as he ran because of his arms being held up in front of his chest.

Sasuke caught him in his arms without even thinking. Naruto cried against his shoulder. He cried, and cried, and cried. Sasuke wasn't sure what to tell him. He couldn't tell him everything would be okay, because he really didn't know. He was never one for not knowing things. Sasuke liked to be in the know. Mostly because he was a control freak, like any ninja would be, and he liked knowing everything about a situation. When you didn't know everything, you weren't in control. When you weren't in control, your mission usually failed.

"Sasuke, what did I do wrong? What did I do? Why did they put me in here?!" Naruto shouted, his voice soaked with tears.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Naruto, it's okay." Sasuke murmured.

"If I didn't do anything wrong, then why am I in here?"

Sasuke pulled away from Naruto who only tried to snuggle back into the safety of his arms again. When you can't hold yourself you only wish someone else would. Sasuke knew the feeling, as a memory from his childhood when he was truly alone. Sasuke grudgingly allowed Naruto to stay in his hold. But, as it was his luck, kid!Naruto didn't stay with him for very long.

"Sasuke…why are you hugging me?"

**TBC…

* * *

**


	7. Chapter 7

**Mad World**

Chapter 7 - House Arrest

* * *

Naruto blinked. He was in a different place, _again_. Apparently he went under as soon as the pain in his head grew really strong. It came at random times, and he had no real warning when it did come. So he had to be quick and thorough with his questions. That was the plan. During the day so far he'd gone under several times but also come up for air once, but he'd still been in that other bedroom. It was odd. Usually when he came to, he was around someone. Now he was in a different room…and in Sasuke's arms _again_. Did the pervy bastard get a kick out of molesting him while he was unconscious or something?

"Sasuke…why are you hugging me?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke stiffened when he spoke, and he pulled away, mumbling 'sorry' dejectedly. This was not the Sasuke he knew. Where was he now? Naruto inspected the room he was in, and didn't like what he saw. He was in a big metal box, with a toilet, sink, bed, and one door. Sasuke was standing in front of it. Naruto tried to move his arms, he had intended to grab Sasuke by the neck and force him to tell him what was going on. But, he couldn't move his arms. Naruto looked down at himself and found his arms bound to his chest by a straight jacket. It wasn't comfortable at all and he didn't even have any leeway to move his arms a bit to get the blood flowing. What, did they just want his arms to suddenly never be useable again? Whoever 'they' were.

"Alright Sasuke. I don't know how much time I have, it seems like I can't control how long I'm awake before I pass out so answer my questions as quick as you can." Naruto told him. Sasuke nodded.

"Where are we?"

"The sanatorium in Konoha, the highest security wing they have, and I'm the only one allowed to visit you."

"Why am I here?" Naruto had difficulty getting that question out. He was in the sanatorium? In the high security wing? What had he done? By the look on Sasuke's face, he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Two years ago, when you found me in one of Orochimaru's bases, he put you under a genjutsu that lasted three days. When you woke up, all the stress the technique caused to your mind forced you to regress mentally to the age of seven and lose all your memories of everyone. For the past two years you've been in the minimum security wing of the sanatorium and Sakura has been visiting you every day since you were admitted." Sasuke answered him quickly, as Naruto had asked. Yet, it took a few minutes for his words to sink in. Two years? He'd lost two _years_? The mental age of a seven year old? Naruto couldn't imagine anything more mortifying.

"When did you get home?" Naruto bit out, he hadn't even gotten to be there when they'd found Sasuke and brought him home. Wow, he really was just as weak as Orochimaru said he was.

"A little over two weeks ago. I only started visiting you a week ago, though. The reason you're back at all like this…is probably because I brought back so many of your memories so quickly that your seven year old state and your normal self are now fighting for control. Or at least…I think that's what the nurses said to me last night."

"Oh, is there any way for me to try harder to stay in control?"

"I don't know." Sasuke admitted, "I can try and not be, er…hugging you when you do get control again. But it'll be kinda hard cuz your other self is sorta…clingy."

Naruto hung his head, blushing profusely. Just great. When he was 'out' he was all over Sasuke…just what he wanted his rival to see. All of this information he'd just been given was threatening to swallow him whole. He could feel the pain start to grow and Naruto panicked. _NO I'm__ NOT going back_. In an act of desperation he threw himself forward towards Sasuke. He had to stay in control; he had to stay in control. The pain was fading again, but it was making him shake and was taking all of his concentration. He noticed that as Sasuke cautiously put his arms around him, that the pain nearly disappeared. Naruto chuckled bitterly.

"Just great. If I can stay like this long enough without hating you I think I can stay 'in control'." Naruto laughed.

Sasuke laughed too, but it was weak and shaky. Naruto noticed that Sasuke was holding him as tightly was Sakura had. It like they were hoping, if they held him tight enough, that he wouldn't fade away. Naruto tried to imagine Sakura like that, for two years and no matter what he did he couldn't get her back. Then suddenly, Sasuke came home and spent a week with her and got her to be sort of half and half like Naruto was now. Naruto would feel so helpless. He didn't know how Sasuke and Sakura managed. _Ugh…two __yeeeears__…_Naruto thought in frustration. How could he just fall under like that for so long? Leave Sakura to find Sasuke by herself with Sai the asshole.

"I can't believe that you're finally home, and I was so busy sitting around here sucking my thumb to get to be there when we finally brought you back." Naruto groaned.

"You don't suck your thumb, if that's any consolation." Sasuke offered sarcastically.

"Oh, gee, good to know."

But Naruto's curiosity got the better of him, "What am I like, when I'm not, ya know, me…?"

Sasuke sighed, obviously trying to think of a reply. Naruto shifted, mumbling something about moving over to the bed because he was getting tired of standing. Sasuke wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulder just in case and they shuffled over to the bed where they clambered onto it. Naruto maneuvered them so they both were leaning against the wall, and Naruto was leaning into Sasuke who still had an arm around his shoulders. Naruto felt awkward and embarrassed in the position but didn't want to give up control to his other self, which sounded idiotic even to him. For now he'd put up with it.

"At first, when Sakura 'introduced' me to you I hated it." Sasuke started, "Your younger self is a fan of coloring, just so you know, and he got me into it the little demon spawn."

"Younger me got you to…color?" Naruto asked, as if to clarify this ludicrous thought. He shook his head, chuckling.

"Yes, actually." Sasuke paused, "But I got used to it really fast. You hated me at first too, which isn't surprising but it was for really weird reasons."

"Like?"

"Like I was mean, and you thought that I thought you were stupid or something like that. But Sakura made you apologize to me and then pretty much left us alone. Something that I still haven't forgiven her for, mind you."

"I'm that terrible to be alone with?"

"When you're clingy, sort of."

Naruto calmed himself down enough that they carried on the conversation for a while. Naruto learning more and more about his supposed other self, becoming increasingly interested in how Sasuke would act in response to him that way. After they'd talked for a good deal of time, Naruto thought it would be a good idea to see how long he could keep himself in control without being close to Sasuke.

"Are you sure you want to try this?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm sure, now scoot away from me. Come back when I say so." Naruto instructed.

Sasuke detached himself and moved to the end of the bed so they weren't touching at all. The pain came back instantly, but not so intense Naruto could feel himself losing control. It was a minor ache as opposed to the painless relaxation he felt when leaning against Sasuke. Naruto forced himself to not focus on it, like he would if he hadn't known anything about what was really going on inside his head. When he did this the pain in his head grew, as if to say, 'Stop ignoring me!' Naruto concentrated on it again, fighting it back but he didn't think he could handle it. He reached out for Sasuke who hurried onto the bed and wrapped him up in his arms. The pain vanished and Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He gasped and panted trying to regain his breath and leaned weakly against Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke was kneeling next to him while Naruto sat, making Naruto's nose dip slightly against Sasuke's bellybutton. It was an awkward position but at least Naruto was still in control. Smirking slightly, he decided to see how different Sasuke was with younger him. He told Sasuke that wanted to try again and let him get to the end of the bed.

Naruto wasn't sure if he would be able to fake younger him well enough, he hoped he could. If he didn't and Sasuke caught him it was be extremely embarrassing. The pain was there, but not enough to be a threat. But all the same he bent over, pretending to be in real agony, hissing as if he'd just received a particularly strong jab of pain in his head. Sasuke rushed forward to counter it, and once in his arms again Naruto lifted his head up and looked around, acting confused. He looked up at Sasuke and asked what had happened in his most childish voice. Naruto could feel Sasuke tense and then sigh.

"Nothing, nothing happened."

"Oh, okay."

Naruto wriggled out of Sasuke's arms and waddled on his knees over to the pillow side, falling down face first because of the straight jacket. Who would have thought that binding up your arms would have such an influence on your use of your legs? Sasuke chuckled slightly and helped him roll over. Naruto pouted at him and struggled against the straight jacket. He used all of his will to summon some fake tears and managed to get his eyes to water.

"Why do I have to wear this thing, Sasukeee?" He whined as pitifully as he could.

Sasuke looked away from him and sighed, "I don't know. It seems kind of silly that you do, huh?"

Naruto nodded, wishing he could get Sasuke to talk more without being too obvious. He lifted himself up into a sitting position and leaned his head against Sasuke's stomach, nuzzling against his soft linen shirt. Sasuke let out another one of his soft chuckles, which he seemed more prone to when Naruto was his 'younger self'. He settled down next to Naruto on the bed, lying on his side and drawing Naruto into his arms. Hating himself for it, but curious as to how much Sasuke would do, Naruto snuggled closer, tucking his head under Sasuke's chin and breathing against his neck. Naruto smirked, was that a shiver he just felt? Wiping the smirk off his face and replacing it with a playful look he quickly pressed his lips against Sasuke's neck and raspberry'd him. Sasuke growled at him and pushed him away, muttering something about 'stupid dobe'. Naruto blinked innocently at him. But then, this look spread onto Sasuke's face, much like the one that Naruto was used to when they sparred. It was that 'you're gonna get it' smirk. Naruto tried to roll over and inch away like a worm due to his bound arms, but of course Sasuke caught him easily and pinned him to the bed.

Naruto yelped, and sadly he wasn't faking that. He inwardly reprimanded himself for making such a girlish sound and barely had time to accidentally make another one when Sasuke flipped him over and started tickling him within an inch of his life. Naruto laughed; of course he laughed he was being tickled. But apparently he wasn't laughing the right way and that's what clued Sasuke in. The Uchiha avenger turned and eyed him, and Naruto blushed. It was very hard to make pretend little kid faces when your rival has his arm wedge in between your legs, his hand under your knee and his forearm resting soundly on your chest to hold you down. Naruto gave him a bashful smile and Sasuke sighed heavily.

"Don't you _ever_ fake me out like that again, do you hear me?!" Sasuke shouted. He pulled his arm out from under Naruto's leg and laid it on top of his thighs. With an annoyed groan Sasuke collapsed on top of him, resting his cheek on Naruto's stomach.

Naruto lifted his head up as much as he could to look at Sasuke. But he could only see the back of his head because his face was turned away from him. "Would I really have acted like that?"

"Shut up dobe."

Naruto let his head fall back onto the bed again. Okay, so pretending to be his kid self was probably a bad move. He was just curious. But Sasuke wasn't going to answer any of his questions now, he bet. Just fan-fucking-tastic. In protest to the angry snuggling Sasuke was doing, Naruto rolled onto his side only to be roughly slammed down onto his back again. Naruto let out an indignant 'OW' at this but Sasuke merely grumbled at him to not move and it wouldn't happen again.

"So is it completely normal for younger me and you to have sporadic tickle fights?" Naruto inquired conversationally. Sasuke turned his face towards Naruto and glared at him, but also with a slight tinge of pink to his cheeks.

"Well damn, I wish I had a camera and my hands to use it to capture the only Uchiha Sasuke blush to ever come into existence!" Naruto crowed.

Sasuke faltered a moment before glaring again, this time without the miniscule blush that had been there before. Naruto smirked at him and Sasuke let his head fall back onto Naruto's stomach. It was then that Naruto paused to look at Sasuke and realize just how truly exhausted he appeared. He'd apparently been spending a lot of time here, and working his ass off to get Naruto to go back to normal. Now here he was, normal, well kind of. All Naruto could do was pester him with questions (some valid, most not), and freak him out probably way more than he had shown. Naruto frowned at the thought of apologizing and instead chose to ask a question he truly meant.

"So, if all you're gonna do is angrily nuzzle my belly and pin me to the bed what's the point of me being my old self? Why don't you let go of me long enough for kid me to take over, huh?" Naruto spat out.

"Shut up Naruto, I want to see how long I can keep you here, so I have a more impressive number to give the administrators. If you can stay in control and become your old self for longer and longer, they may let you out of here." Sasuke explained neutrally before indignantly adding, "And I'm not _nuzzling_ you."

Naruto watched as Sasuke let his head fall back to his place on his stomach and then promptly resumed his 'not nuzzling'. Naruto laughed sarcastically, which felt funny with Sasuke's head on his belly and arm on his chest. Eventually, during the somewhat comfortable silence Naruto ended up falling asleep, he didn't know when or how but when he woke up, he once again was in a different place. Naruto glanced around and found himself in a very large bedroom with the Uchiha mon on the wall directly opposite him. He propped himself up on his hands and…his hands?! Naruto moved his arms freely, happy to be able to move them again without the restraints of his straight jacket. But, he was alone. Where was Sasuke?

* * *

Sasuke glowered at Naruto with as much energy as he could muster. He was so exhausted. That was the third time Naruto had referenced his overly physically affectionate actions. Sasuke was having a hard enough time controlling them or understanding them as it was without Naruto pointing them out or making snide comments. To think he wanted this brat back. He sighed. When Naruto had blown on his neck like that, he'd felt a growl well up in his throat that was quite unlike the one he permitted the blonde to hear. If that hadn't made him mortified enough, while he was tickling Naruto he found out he'd been faking the whole time. He had frozen in absolute terror. This, Sasuke realized, was the problem of having become so close to younger!Naruto and then being around older!Naruto again. He slipped up. Those personalities garnered very different Sasukes, and he never wanted to become the wrong one around Naruto. Well, he just had, and now Naruto couldn't stop making comments about it.

Eventually, he felt the little brat fall asleep beneath him, and Sasuke gingerly pulled away. How long had he managed to stay in control like that? Sasuke checked his watch. It'd been nearly six hours. Would that be enough to persuade the administrator? He hoped so. Sasuke wobbly moved over to the door on his partially numb legs and unlocked the door, and let himself out of the room. Then, he went out the door into the rest of the high security wing, trying his hardest to remember the way back to the first door. He wandered around, got lost two times, and found the door nearly ready to beat it down. As impatient as he was, Sasuke made his way to the administrative offices ready to fight with the head of the sanatorium until he went hoarse.

Well, that hadn't been so bad. Sasuke decided reasonably. Naruto was allowed to go home with Sasuke, but not allowed to live on his own. If he managed to stay in full control without _any_ lapses for at least a year, then he could live on his own and return to duty as a ninja. If there was a lapse, and a minor one at that, then the year countdown would restart. Sasuke sighed. The arrangement was made confidentially, and the head promised not to inform anyone of the move. Sasuke knew that once Sakura found out that he'd taken Naruto home with him, and without telling her, she'd beat the crap out of him. He was sure of it. But, it would be worth it. Right?

Sasuke ventured back into the ward where they kept the _really_ crazy people, with some spare clothes for Naruto from his old room. He was going to make him get changed, and he was given the key to unlock the clasps keeping his straight jacket on. Then, after signing him out officially, he would be allowed to take Naruto home. However, Sasuke encountered a problem when he arrived back in Naruto's 'room'. The dobe refused to wake up. He might have well been completely knocked out. Sasuke poked him in the eye even and he didn't wake up. Sasuke groaned, not sure how exactly he was going to go about this. He started first unlocking the clasps and letting Naruto's arms fall down from their restraints. Then, carefully he flipped him over onto his belly and turning his head to the side so he could breathe. Sasuke stared awkwardly down at the mess of strings and buttons that kept the damn contraption on him. He growled. This was trying his patience. Seriously.

So he untied the bow at the top and then scoured the strings with his eyes. Okay, so they were kind of like shoe laces, crossing each other diagonally into the opposite holes. Gradually he started pulling them loose until he reached the bottom and the strings were all undone. To his infinite frustration Sasuke discovered that there were in fact buttons hiding beneath the string and he then undid those. But those buttons were slippery and without girly fingernails he had a hard time getting a grip on them. Sasuke was truly amazed that while he was angrily swearing and working clothes off of him, Naruto still managed to peacefully sleep, snoring like a wood chipper. After he got the straight jacket open in the back he peeled it further open and rolled Naruto over again so he could get the damn thing off. Sasuke paused after he'd gotten it all the way off, considering putting it back on. There wasn't another shirt beneath it, and Sasuke found himself staring at Naruto's bare chest. He blinked as though he were trying to get something out of his eyes. Sasuke had seen Naruto's bare chest before, it was nothing new. Well, yes it was. Sasuke had run off when they'd been thirteen? Then, the next time he'd seen him, Naruto had been fully clothed. Then another two years had passed. Well, five years had definitely changed Naruto's appearance a great deal. Sasuke swallowed and in a determined fashion ignored Naruto's matured physique.

Instead he reached over to grab the shirt that he'd picked out for Naruto and started maneuvering him into it. A conked out Naruto was very hard to dress. Sasuke had to lean forward and support his back while somehow yanking the shirt over his lolling head. The pants, were worse. Sasuke stood in front of the bed staring for quite a while at the drawstrings on Naruto's canvas pants. Why were they so intimidating? They were _pants_. Sasuke reached out a tentative hand and yanked one of the strings out of its uniform bow. He watched as the hem fell a little lower, revealing the top of his boxers and a trace of coarse blonde hair. Sasuke shivered involuntarily like he had when Naruto had surprised him with that raspberry to the neck. He stared woefully at the jeans that were sitting folded neatly on the bed next to Naruto. Why couldn't they just suddenly appear on him on their own? Why did Sasuke have to do it? _Because the stupid administrator wants the sanatorium's clothes back before he leaves_. Sasuke thought absently.

Sighing, he pulled Naruto's pants down and off. Sasuke averted his eyes, even though technically Naruto still has his boxers on. He was being so stupid about this. Grabbing the jeans and unfolding them he started working Naruto's legs into the pants and pulling them up. But then, the problem arose where the stopped. Naruto's ass was rested on the bed. Sasuke tried to somehow sneak them on without having to touch Naruto at all. But it didn't work. Sasuke groaned. This just wasn't fair. He slid his hand under Naruto's back and lifted him up slightly and tried desperately to yank the jeans up. He was met with failure. His face heating up Sasuke moved his hand an inch or so farther south and applied upward pressure. Again, the jeans did not go up. Sasuke realized with much trepidation that his face was directly over Naruto's crotch as he was doing this. He felt like screaming. Ah, to hell with it. Sasuke blatantly reached his hand down and cupped Naruto's ass in his palm and yanked the jeans up over it. Then, faster than he had ever moved before Sasuke jerked his hand out from under Naruto and allowed him to fall onto the bed. Sasuke felt the urge to run his hand under some scalding hot water.

After that ordeal was over, Sasuke zipped up the jeans and buttoned them before folding the other clothes and laying them on the bed near the pillow. Sasuke placed one arm under Naruto's knees and the other under his back, tilting Naruto's head onto his shoulder. Off he went to sign him out. The walk home was by far the oddest thing. No one seemed to be out on the town to catch him carrying Naruto Uzumaki bridal style. This was very helpful as Sasuke had feared being seen by someone far more than being beaten to a pulp by Sakura. When Sasuke reached the estate, he opened the front door awkwardly with one hand and leaned against it, nearly falling into the house.

He awkwardly reached around behind himself for the door handle and threw the door shut behind him, fiddling with the lock for a few frustrating minutes. Sasuke shuffled down the hall into his bedroom, wandering into the room enough to set Naruto down on the bed. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearing midnight. Sasuke crawled over Naruto onto the bed and slid under the covers. He worked the covers out from under Naruto and then over him, carefully moving him away from the edge so he wouldn't roll off the bed. Then, then Sasuke fell asleep, more exhausted than he'd ever been in his life.

When Sasuke woke up, Naruto was still peacefully snoring away next to him. Sasuke shot a look at the clock and saw that it was eleven in the morning. Naruto had been asleep since nine last night. All of what had happened yesterday must have drained him. Sasuke decided to go start making breakfast for the both of them while Naruto got a little closer to waking up. He almost expected to see Sakura waiting for him in his kitchen, but thankfully she was nowhere to be found. Sasuke sighed in relief before going in search of some food to make for Naruto. Smirking to himself, Sasuke found the ramen and started making some for both of them. When the microwave beeped at him he took both ramen cups out and put them on the counter, carefully folding the lids down and waiting.

By the time they were done, Naruto had awkwardly shuffled into the kitchen, as though he had followed the smell. Sasuke stiffened; waiting to see which Naruto he would enjoy the company of this morning. Naruto padded over to the counter and inspected which flavors of ramen were sitting there. He picked the chicken one and grabbed the chopsticks before sitting down at the kitchen table to robotically inhale the whole cup. Sasuke shook his head, joining Naruto at the table where he ate his ramen with much better manners. Naruto finished his breakfast and belched loudly.

"So, teme, where am I?" Naruto asked him.

"In my house, the sanatorium let me take you home last night." Sasuke started cautiously.

"Oh." Naruto muttered, "Why didn't they let me go to my own apartment?"

Sasuke grinned inwardly, he had the ol' dobe. Still. Maybe he was back for good. "Because you need to be watched to make sure there aren't any more lapses back to your younger self."

"Oh, that sucks. I have to live with you?" Naruto groaned.

"For a year, with _no_ lapses at all."

"A YEAR?!" Naruto shouted, "A whole year, 24/7, all the time, with _you_?"

Sasuke grimaced at the thought. He'd gotten pretty used to the dobe, but mostly to his younger self. If he remembered going on extended missions with Naruto when they were younger, they hated each other by the end of the first day. Often times Kakashi would have to peel them off each other and hold them at arm's length away. Still, held by the collar the both of them would swing wildly at each other in mid air, hoping to land at least one blow. Naruto got up and threw his trash away, absentmindedly grabbing Sasuke's too. This was new. A very, very small thing that Naruto wouldn't have done. Okay, so it was something as miniscule as picking up Sasuke's trash for him without being asked, but for the dobe that would have been a compliment when he was younger.

Naruto got up and walked out of the room. Sasuke fidgeted like a new parent and called after him, "Where you going, dobe?"

"To take a shower! Don't try and follow me in, either, cuz you may have no qualms about grabbing my ass and cuddling but I don't swing that way!"

Sasuke froze. Had Naruto been faking it? The sleeping thing? Sasuke sincerely hoped he hadn't been faking it, but with Naruto one could never be sure. Unless he wanted to be consistently pranked for a whole year, Sasuke had to find something for Naruto to do to keep himself entertained. He thought about going into town and buying some video games, but he didn't want to leave Naruto alone in his parents' house. Who knows what kind of stuff he would get into? Sasuke listened to the sound of the running water coming from the bathroom and considered his options. He could call someone and have them go into town and buy things _for_ him. But Sasuke wasn't sure who he'd be able to call and ask to buy loads of electronics for him without asking any questions that Sasuke would be hesitant to answer. First, Sasuke went through all the names he could think of in his head. Neji…probably didn't play them, and would be too suspicious. Chouji, while ultimately dense and kindhearted, would definitely mention it to his girlfriend Ino (Sasuke still couldn't believe they were together) about the favor.

All Sasuke needed was someone with disturbingly unlimited knowledge of the world of video games and movies, who was relatively dense and…wait, he could call up Kiba! Sasuke congratulated himself on his problem solving only to be confronted with the conundrum of whether or not Kiba was talking to him. Well, there was no real harm in trying. Sasuke wandered over the telephone and grabbed it off the hook before going off in search of the phone book. After getting a hold of Kiba he was first confronted by Hinata. Sasuke blinked, confused as to why he would get Hinata when he was calling Kiba.

"Um, sorry, I think I have the wrong number Hinata, I was trying to call Kiba." Sasuke muttered, checking the number on the page he was staring at.

"No, you h-have the right number Sasuke-kun. Let me go get him for you."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow, this was an interesting development. Hinata was at Kiba's house. Though technically they were all jounin now, perhaps they still held group meetings? The bonds formed while in one's three man cell of genins was typically very strong. It was not surprising when team mates still talked on a regular basis well into adulthood. But…Hinata at _Kiba's_ house? Sasuke rolled his eyes and waited patiently for Kiba to pick up the phone. When he did, Sasuke was relieved to hear a rather easy going tone in his voice rather than any true malice.

"Hey Sasuke, what's up?"

"Hi Kiba, I need you to do me a favor."

"Kay, I'm pretty free today, what can I do ya for?"

Sasuke removed a rather unpleasant image from his mind before explaining his predicament. Kiba seemed relatively excited at the thought of going all out in the electronics department. He was even more enthused when Sasuke told him that he was free to put the charge on Sasuke's tab for whatever he got. He told Kiba he needed the best entertainment system he could find, and all of the best gaming consoles and titles out there. Also, buying up 90 percent of the movie section was also reasonable if the teen was so inclined. Kiba agreed, after writing down the specifics and told him he'd be by later to drop off the stuff. Sasuke thanked him and hung up the phone in time for Naruto to come wandering into the kitchen.

"Who were you talking to?" Naruto asked him.

"Kiba, I'm having him get some stuff for me in town."

"Oh, why didn't you just go get it yourself?"

"I'm not sure I'm supposed to leave you alone this early on."

Naruto rolled his eyes and shifted his grip on the towel around his waist. He was obnoxiously dripping water onto the tiled floor of the kitchen, unaware that he was triggering Sasuke's OCD like crazy. Sasuke stared at Naruto for a few minutes with a 'what do you want?' glare, waiting for Naruto to get to the point of why he was standing in the kitchen in nothing but a towel.

"Didn't you bring all of my clothes here from the sanatorium?"

"Shit." Sasuke nearly smacked his forehead. "C'mon, you can borrow some of mine and we'll go pick up yours later."

"Fine." Naruto disappeared from the kitchen and meandered down the hall into Sasuke's room.

Sasuke noticed, to his chagrin, that Naruto had left a trail of droplets on the floor all the way down the hall. He followed Naruto into his room and watched him looking around the room in confusion. Sasuke strode over to the dresser and opened the top drawer, first pulling out some plain blue boxers. Then he rifled through the other drawers getting some jeans and a random t shirt to hand to Naruto. After that, Sasuke politely left the room and went to answer the suddenly ringing phone in the kitchen. He picked it up and heard that it was Hinata.

"Hello, um, S-sasuke-kun. It's just that Kiba told me you'd asked him to pick some things up for you in town because you weren't able to leave the house today."

"Yes, I did. I appreciate your concern, I'm fine, I just am a bit tired. And since I have no real knowledge of that kind of stuff anyways I figured Kiba could help me." It was a smooth lie, and he was proud of it, until Hinata offered to help out as well.

"Well, if you're unable to go out, would you like me to go and get you some groceries at the market? I'm on my way there anyways, and if you're out of food and can't go out, I wouldn't mind…" Hinata had less of a stutter, Sasuke noticed, but her voice was still just as quiet. So he had to jab at the volume on the phone to make sure he could hear her.

"Um, it's alright, I think I…" Sasuke checked the fridge and the pantry and was thoroughly disgruntled to find that they were in fact out of food, "Actually, that would be very helpful, Hinata."

She went off in search of some paper and a writing implement before asking him what it was he'd like for her to get. After Sasuke supplied her with a list, he hung up and was again pestered by Naruto.

"Who was that?" Naruto questioned as he fell into a seat at the kitchen table. Sasuke explained the situation to him and Naruto nodded weakly. Sasuke leaned against the counter and the two stared at each other.

"What do you want, dobe?" Sasuke growled. Naruto leaned his chair back on two legs and gave Sasuke a look as though it should be obvious.

"Entertain me!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke scowled. Maybe it would have been easier to just let him stay in the crazy house.

**TBC…

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	8. Chapter 8

**Important! Neato!:** So, I recieved my first ever fanart. I heart it. Love, Go, oggle, my loyal readers. Show this fellow reader of yours some love. You can visit her deviation here:

http(colen) (extra slash) / mo-goei-hai-tzu (dot) deviantart (dot) c o m / art / Mad-World-for-Rational-Lunacy-74311754

Remove all those spaces when you try out the link, k?

**

* * *

Mad World**

Chapter 8 - Cuddle Monster

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No, no, this wasn't happening. It wasn't happening, oh…it was happening. Sakura stood before Sasuke, livid. So livid in fact, she was, that some might say she was about to commit heinous, unholy acts of extreme violence. Naruto was standing in the doorway eating some ice cream out of the gallon tub with a spoon. It was vanilla, since he was naturally a purist at heart, and he was probably enjoying it thoroughly. However, Sasuke was not enjoying anything. He was standing in front of a very angry Sakura. Sasuke had, at first feared Sakura's discovery of Naruto's presence in his house. Now, he was merely frustrated, annoyed, and indignant. What business was it of hers if Naruto was released to Sasuke, and now going to be living with him? According to the pink haired wonder it was very much her business. In fact, she so dramatically claimed, it was her _right_. 

"So you two just sat around in the high security wing and you decide that because he was his old self for four hours-"

"Six."

"-_WHATEVER_, SIX hours, you think he's fit enough to be released? HUH? How drunk do you have to be before that sounds like a good idea?"

"Sakura-chan, I'm standing right here, and I'm fine. Kid me hasn't been in control at all since I left." Naruto put in, Sasuke thanked him silently. Only Sakura refuted his argument instantly.

"And have you been away from Sasuke at all today?"

"Um, no? What's your point?"

"Well clearly being around him keeps kid you away."

"And?" Naruto obviously didn't see her point.

But Sasuke did. Now, he was angry with himself. What would happen when Naruto and him basically spent a whole year together, attached at the hip, and then he went out into the world on his own and went back to how he was at the beginning? All of that time spent would be completely wasted. Sakura basically told Naruto what Sasuke was thinking. Naruto frowned at this realization. Then, as a child attempting to appease two quarreling parents, Naruto proposed a plan. One that Sasuke soon decided he didn't like at all. Naruto told Sakura that he could spend one week with Sasuke, and one week with Sakura, and they could alternate so that he could get used to being around different people. Eventually he would learn to keep control around a variety of people, and on his own. By the time the year limit was up, he would be able to go back to his normal life.

"Besides, don't you get to go back to work eventually, Sasuke?" Naruto asked him. He nodded, "And you wouldn't get to if you were staying home babysitting me all the time waiting for your chance at another tickle fight/fondling session."

Sasuke growled warningly for Naruto not to make another comment. But one look at Sakura's face told him it wasn't necessary. Sakura smiled at Naruto and told him to go play video games for a bit while she talked to Sasuke. Naruto consented immediately and vanished into the living room where Kiba had helped set up all the products he'd purchased earlier that day. That, in fact, was how Sakura had even found out. Kiba had stopped by with video games and Naruto, with all the stealth of a bull elephant with bells around its neck, came barreling out to greet him. Sasuke didn't even have a hope of a chance to stop the boy. Kiba, caught off guard had assumed that Naruto was still his kid self and had reached out to ruffle his hair. Naruto, being the crotchety impatient little bastard that he is took the video games and ran into the living room with them before Kiba had raised his hand even a few inches from his side. That was what clued the teen in. Kiba, being a dense fellow told Hinata, who then casually questioned Sakura. Sasuke was sure the whole village knew by now.

"_Fond-_"

"Shut up, not another _word_." Sasuke spat.

So Sakura closed her mouth and instead stared expectantly at him. Sasuke rolled his eyes and explained to Sakura what had happened. She merely laughed at him. She apologized insincerely and held a hand over her mouth to muffle the chuckles. Sasuke growled at her. But when Sakura again remained impervious to his threatening gestures, Sasuke was furious that it no longer had an effect on his old teammate. She strode forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug and before he could hit her she stepped back. After a casual peck to the cheek she announced that she was going to go play some video games with Naruto in the living room. Sasuke wanted to go after her and tell her to never hug and especially not kiss him, ever again. In fact, he strongly was moved to slap her. But he wasn't quick enough, and the urge was very short and then dissipated. Sasuke sighed. He was getting too soft.

* * *

Naruto rolled around on the floor of the living room, attempting to keep himself awake. Sakura had left several hours ago. It was already absurdly late in the evening and he did want to go to sleep. But Sasuke had mandated earlier in the evening, after dinner in fact, that he would be sleeping in Sasuke's room with him. Naruto had protested immensely, only to have Sasuke provide a frustratingly reasonable argument. If Naruto were to wake up, having reverted to his kid self in the middle of the night, he would not know where he was. Sasuke would not be next to him to explain things either, and who knows where Naruto might go, or what he might do. But, Naruto didn't fancy the idea of being that close to Sasuke, in a bed no less. It wasn't as though Naruto hadn't slept in the same bed as Sasuke before. He did so just last night. He'd always slept relatively close to his old team mate back when they were on extensive missions away from the village. But that was before the whole mess of Sasuke becoming so…_touchy-feely_. 

Sasuke was no longer trusted to keep his hands to himself. Whereas Sakura had been the clingy one of the group before, Sasuke had taken first place as most touchy. Naruto wished that he would just go back to normal and not be so…familiar with Naruto. It was like, that week when Sasuke had been spending time with him, he'd missed out on some huge important change in his friend. Naruto wished he could somehow remember what happened. What exactly had made Sasuke change? It wasn't as if Sasuke was surprising him with stealth hugs every few seconds. It was simply casual touches that didn't use to be there. Naruto had gone back to his video games, (Sasuke had already dubbed it his cavern) and Sasuke had idly followed him into the room. While he had sat on the floor with his back leaning against the couch, Sasuke had laid on the couches edge, twining locks of Naruto's hair around his finger probably not noticing he was doing it. Still, every few whiles Sasuke's innocent fidgeting would result in his finger brushing against Naruto's sensitive scalp. He would shiver involuntarily and would yank his head away from Sasuke's teasing hand. Then, when Naruto would move away, he had inadvertently acknowledged the touch. The silence would then become awkward and tense, and Naruto would feel Sasuke shift on the couch in silent embarrassment. Because he was basically a nice person, Naruto would move back to his original place and allow Sasuke to resume his fiddling as a comfort to his friend. Of course the situation repeated again and again until Sasuke, frustrated, left the room.

Another one Naruto had noticed, was that sometimes to get his attention, Sasuke would go as far as to place a hand on his arm, or shoulder. From anyone else it would be perfectly normal. But the old Sasuke went out of his way to _not_ touch people, unless he was killing them or injuring them. Then, typically he was hitting them with a kurenai so technically he wasn't _actually_ touching them. But now, when Sasuke would usually avoid touch, he would simply allow himself to. Naruto knew it wasn't really a bad thing; it was just uncomfortable, and odd. He figured he would get used to it eventually, but he didn't really want to. Naruto wanted things to go back to normal. That's why he had wanted Sasuke to come home. He wanted normal. He wanted his best friend back. His brother. Sasuke wasn't acting like either of those.

On top of all of this, when Naruto had headed towards the shower, he had made that comment about Sasuke grabbing his ass as a joke. It was meant to be a jab at how fruity and cuddly he'd been acting. But when Sasuke hadn't sent an icy retort, and had simply remained awkwardly silent, Naruto had felt his blood run cold. Had he struck a real nerve? Had Sasuke really…like, molested him or something without him knowing? He had been asleep a _really_ long time. Just thinking about it made Naruto horrified. Yet, as his curiosity usually was his worst habit, he couldn't stop poking fun at Sasuke about it. He wanted to see how his friend reacted, so that maybe he could find out more about if he'd really done anything. Hence the comment in front of Sakura, but that hadn't gotten him anything in the end. Instead he was promptly shooed out of the room by Sakura and wasn't let to hear Sasuke's answer. He couldn't eavesdrop either, they would know.

So, there Naruto was. He was woefully avoiding going to bed, because he didn't want to cuddle with Sasuke. How terrible was that? Did that make him a bad friend, he wondered. Not letting his best friend cuddle with him. They _were_ guys though. Guys did not typically cuddle with each other. Girls did that, they cuddled. But then again, girls were generally very odd and not meant to be understood or reasoned with. Naruto didn't think Sasuke would be so bold as to truly try anything…while he was awake. He blushed. He was a very sound sleeper. It took a lot to wake him up. So technically Sasuke could do pretty much anything to him in his sleep and get away with it. Naruto shuddered at the thought. Maybe he would stay up all night long. Sasuke couldn't make him go to bed. Right? Speak of the devil, there he was now. Sasuke entered the living room and glared at him blearily. He was already down to his boxers and had clearly just come from the bedroom where he'd been waiting patiently for Naruto to join him. Naruto eyed him suspiciously. Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and jerked his head towards the doorway.

The clock said that it was nearly two in the morning. Naruto sighed in defeat, and followed Sasuke to the bedroom. Naruto brightened. There was no reason he had to take off his clothes. Naruto could sleep fully clothed if he wanted, and intended to do just that. He crawled under the covers on his side of the bed and made himself comfortable. But he made a point of staying practically on the edge of the bed. Sasuke easily sprawled out more towards the middle, laying his head on the pillow and sighing contentedly at finally getting to go to sleep. It was a very big bed. There was really no way that they could end up touching, right? Naruto laid on his precious edge, staring at the alarm clock that just happened to be on his side. The glowing numbers were comforting to him. But they were lulling him to sleep. NO. He couldn't sleep. Sasuke would prey upon his poor innocent body and ravish it with his unclean Uchiha pedophilic hands. Naruto clenched his teeth and forced his eyes to remain open. His eyes hurt. Oh man did they hurt. He let out a puff of air and let his eyes rest for a minute. Just for a minute. Then he would open them again. Any minute now…

Naruto jolted awake. He'd moved! He'd MOVED! Against his will surely, he was, Sasuke had…Naruto blinked. Sasuke was in the same position he'd been before Naruto had accidentally fallen asleep. Exactly the same, Naruto was sure. _He_ had been the one to move. Aha! It wasn't Sasuke's fault, it was Naruto's fault! His younger self's fault, to be more precise. Younger him was working in the shadows, while he was asleep, to make him cuddle with Sasuke. Well, Naruto wasn't going to let it happen. Not against his will, anyways. Naruto's sleep hazed mind went over his options and how stupid they sounded to him, even at two in the morning. He could either beat his younger self at his own game by just cautiously crawling over to Sasuke and cuddling of his own volition. Thereby he would prove he was in perfect control of any cuddling he would be doing, with Sasuke or with someone else, it didn't matter. Or, he could go back to sleep and hope that younger self didn't lead him into a situation he would then not be able to explain to Sasuke in the morning. Naruto squinted angrily at Sasuke, the fruity bastard.

He couldn't believe what he was doing. Naruto crawled slowly, agonizingly towards Sasuke. Every time Sasuke would mutter sleepily and roll over, or move slightly, Naruto would stop and hold his breath. He would wait. Then, when Sasuke settled again, Naruto would move again, closer and closer. Finally, he was right next to him. He reached his arms down to Sasuke's waist and carefully, slowly pulled Sasuke into a sleepy embrace. Naruto had absently decided that if he and Sasuke were going to sleep in the same bed, and cuddle like two perfectly _heterosexual_ men, that Sasuke would be the woman. Wait. That didn't make sense. Naruto frowned confusedly. That didn't work right did it? Whatever. He adjusted his arms around Sasuke and found that he moved with him in his sleep until they were comfortably spooning. Naruto felt his stomach churn, and sweat bead on his brow. He thought for a moment he might be sick. But, he forced himself to relax and rested his face against Sasuke's neck, breathing deeply.

"Mm, Naruto…" He froze, suddenly very awake. "Stop breathing on my neck, 'kay? It tickles…"

Naruto moved his face back as Sasuke rolled his head a little bit away on the pillow they now shared. He sighed in relief as Sasuke continued sleeping peacefully. Naruto placed his head on the pillow too, and gradually, fell asleep.

* * *

Sasuke woke up with that strange spasm in one's body that one gets when being tickled in just the right place. It's an involuntary twitch that jerks your whole body in an unnatural, uncomfortable way. He realized that it was coming from Naruto breathing on his neck. Sasuke pulled away slightly, but soon ascertained that Naruto had a strong grip on him. He felt a flush take over his face and a feeling of dread sink into his stomach like a stone to the bottom of a pond. They.were._spooning_. Naruto had his arms wrapped securely around his waist, and his face nuzzled against his neck. Every few seconds, to add to Sasuke's mortification, Naruto was making growling, purring sounds that surely weren't human. If he moved, he would wake up Naruto. If he didn't move he would be forced to wait until Naruto woke up, which might be several hours from then. When Naruto woke up, and he found a blushing, quivering Sasuke lying awake in his arms, who knows what jokes he might crack at his expense. It was already extremely difficult to walk into a room and Naruto give him a playful wink, asking if he'd gotten back from a gay bar. But if Naruto actually found out that they were together like, like, _THIS_, Sasuke would never live it down. Surely it had been Sasuke the creepy, can't-keep-his-hands-to-himself-pedophile who instigated the not so innocent cuddling. Not Naruto, straighter than a ruler. 

Okay, no need to hyperventilate. Oh, he was hyperventilating. Why was it so hard to breathe? Sasuke covered his face with his hands and tried to calm down. This was extremely unbecoming. Wrong. He didn't care. Sasuke Uchiha did not _care_ about things. Uchihas did not _care_ about things. They went around murdering family members and joining notorious criminal organizations and ran off to be the sluts of evil overlords. It was a sort of talent they had, the whole stoic game face beat-your-mother-with-a-lawn-chair-and-not-care attitude they were renowned for. Here Sasuke was, nearing an anxiety attack. Deciding to cut the shit, face the music, and cease beating the dead horse, and all of those other ridiculous idioms galore; he did them. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arms and unlinked them from around his waist, and quickly he threw himself out of the bed.

Naruto snored away, though his hands were roaming around the now empty space in confusion. Sasuke tip toed his way out of the room and down the hall to shower. Yes, that was what he would do. He would shower, and rid himself of the overwhelming filth threatening to consume his flesh and eat him alive. It was a good plan. Until Naruto opened the door, and sleepwalked down the hall, and hoisted Sasuke over his shoulder. Naruto, still asleep, marched back into the bedroom, and through a strange method of acrobatics resumed their previous position. Sasuke faced the wall, glaring. This was not gonna work. He wanted to get out of bed now. Naruto would not be waking up for another few hours, or days, or years. He didn't learn how to hibernate properly like the other foxes; he did it randomly throughout the year instead of only in winter. He was a defective fox. Sasuke growled, rolling over in Naruto's arms and pounding him on the chest.

"Wake up, dobe! I want to eat breakfast now!" Naruto snorted indignantly in his sleep and pulled Sasuke even closer to him. Now that Sasuke was facing Naruto, he found that this position was even more awkward.

"Dooooooobe!!" Sasuke yelled. He shouted and screamed and bitched right in Naruto's ear for several long minutes. And then, just like that, Naruto woke up.

He blinked groggily at Sasuke, whose nose was touching his. Naruto yawned and muttered, "Good morning Sasuke, didja shay shomethin…?"

"Let.go.of.me.NOW."

"Oky-doky." Naruto relinquished his hold and grabbed a pillow instead, falling back asleep.

Sasuke watched Naruto in complete disbelief. He waited. Naruto would suddenly abandon the pillow and make a grab for him again. Nope. Silence. Naruto remained still. Sasuke sighed, relief flooding him. He slid out of bed and resumed his trek towards the shower. Once in the shower, he relaxed completely. Naruto hadn't come to get him yet, he guessed he was probably safe now. He washed himself, and leisurely stepped out of the shower, drying himself and meandering back into the bedroom, boxers and towel in hand. Sasuke dropped them in the hamper in the corner of his bedroom and began digging around in his dresser for some clean clothes.

"Eeeeeew, Sasuke ass!" Naruto was awake.

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at Naruto who was glaring at him pointedly, blushing. How old were they, seven? Sasuke rolled his eyes and grabbed a pair of boxers, quickly pulling them on and turning around. He held out his arms and scowled.

"Look, covered, ya happy, dobe?"

"Yes, yes I am!"

"Alright, just checking." Sasuke then turned back to his current task of getting out some jeans and a t shirt.

When fully dressed, Sasuke leant against the dresser, eyeing Naruto with a raised eybrow.

"You slept in the clothes you wore yesterday?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, I went back to the sanatorium twice because I forgot your penguin hat and your precious footy pajamas and you didn't even wear them?"

"But you can't be trusted you cuddle monster! I'm afraid you'll molest me while I'm sleeping!" Naruto argued.

Sasuke growled. He'd had enough. He stalked over to the bed, grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and roughly shoved him up against the headboard. It hit the wall with a thud from the force of his shove.

"I'm _sorry_ that spending a week with your younger self trained me to be a little more touchy than I used to be. But when you have basically a kid who trained himself to go completely limp when he cried because he's afraid of you, you force yourself to learn a little sensitivity, alright?!"

Naruto looked away from him weakly, not meeting his eyes. Sasuke continued staring him down anyways, he wasn't finished yet. "And, while I spent every day, all day, for a week teaching myself to react that way to you, I got used to it. It became a habit. I _just_ got you back. Alright? I'm having a bit of a hard time transitioning, and your immature bratty insults aren't making it any easier, dobe."

Sasuke reluctantly pulled away. He let Naruto slide back down on to the bed and sighed. He turned away from him and strode towards the door, intending to go to the kitchen and start on breakfast. But, he stopped. Turning around he paused. He'd thought he heard Naruto say something. He said it again. Sheepishly staring at the blankets he mumbled 'sorry'. Sasuke gave him a nod, to go ahead and acknowledge his apology. He wasn't sure if he was going to forgive him yet. He drew the line at being called a 'cuddle monster'. Sasuke, truly, preferred 'pedophile'.

**TBC…

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	9. Chapter 9

**IMPORTANT:** Okay, so I went back to the first chapter and edited it again, to remove the part where Itachi died. Cuz I wanted him to live really bad. So that's why he's alive in this chapter.

**Another thing, Yes I do know that Lee can't use those chakra technique thingies, but for the sake of this story, let's say he can.Cuz I really want him to be preggers.**

**

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Mad World**

Chapter 9 - The Day My Childhood Died

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Tension. Naruto gulped. Sasuke had always been good at silent arguing. He could project waves of unpleasant feelings across great distances so that everyone he wanted to include with his suffering was not let off easy. Somewhere in the village paint was peeling off of a building. Naruto himself felt like he'd smelled something extremely foul. Sasuke had gone off to the kitchen, and now sounds of clattering dishware could be heard. He hadn't expected for Sasuke to blow up like that. He was sure that Sasuke would have lasted weeks before he finally said something. But no, not this time. Naruto had managed to burn down Sasuke's usually very long fuse until he exploded loudly and colorfully. His words were intriguing as well. Naruto's younger self had been afraid of Sasuke? Well, Naruto wasn't so much afraid of Sasuke now as he was afraid that he would leave again. He had put all of himself into finding Sasuke, into trying to bring him home. Ultimately he had failed, and it had been Sakura who had retrieved him. But, the fact that Sasuke was home was a fragile one. Naruto was sure that at any moment, any wrong decision he made, Sasuke would leave him again. He couldn't let that happen. 

Naruto had to find a way to make Sasuke happy again. Well, not happy, Sasuke Uchiha was never truly happy. But, at least reduce his feelings of rage and violence to their usual low. Naruto cautiously shuffled out of the bedroom and across the hall. He stood timidly in the doorway watching as Sasuke wandered around, pulling things out of cupboards, putting some things away. It looked like he was making pancakes. Though it didn't look like he intended on making it, there was a packet of ramen out, like an afterthought. Sasuke was diligently ignoring him again. Naruto took one step towards him and felt the tension thicken. With one glance thrown over his shoulder, Sasuke had Naruto taking two steps back.

"You called me a _cuddle monster_." Sasuke growled.

"Sasukeeee, what can I do to make it up to you?" Naruto confidently closed the distance between them and stood directly to his side.

"Shut up dobe."

"Do you want me to wear the footy pajamas I made you go back for? I could wear 'em all day! Just pick out which ones!"

Sasuke smirked at the suggestion but did not make any sounds of approval. Naruto groaned. Sasuke was going to make him truly regret the teasing. He was going to make Naruto do all manners of pointless, humiliating things, Naruto knew it. He waited. Sasuke hadn't made any sort of answer. The silence didn't change, there were no glares or looks, no smirks. Naruto huffed and stomped back into the bedroom where he promptly rifled through his suitcase for the footy pajamas. The smirk had been a disclosed sign of amusement. Naruto was going to pick out the most embarrassing set of pajamas he could and wear them ALL day. He made a grab for the frog ones and changed into them rapidly. He even went as far as to pull the hood up over his head. Then, Naruto returned to the kitchen. Sasuke turned his head to look at Naruto's changed appearance and the corners of his lips twitched. That was a Sasuke laugh. Naruto inwardly congratulated himself and thought of what else he could do. Oh…no. Anything but that.

A memory was drifting back to Naruto, it was a hazy blurry one, but if it was real it might make Sasuke forgive him. Naruto felt himself blush as he weighed his options. He could continue the day with Sasuke hating him from afar, and him potentially saying the wrong things. Or, he could just fess up to something extremely humiliating to even the playing field. While Naruto wasn't exactly the most polite guy out there, he wasn't nearly as bad as Sai. _Hey Sakura, you sure don't sweat much for a fat chick_. Naruto was sure that if Sakura wasn't in so much shock from that statement that she would have killed Sai then and there. Those were the sorts of things that Naruto imagined himself saying on accident. But if he just came clean now…no, Sasuke would never let him forget it. _EVER_. He couldn't, he wouldn't.

Naruto collapsed into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. A plate clattered onto the table in front of him. There were no pancakes. Instead there was an uncooked block of dehydrated noodles with the seasoning sprinkled on top. Sasuke sat down opposite him and dug into some very delicious looking pancakes. Naruto's stomach grumbled, and rumbled, and growled as if it were imitating Sasuke's anger. That…that decided it.

"Um…Sasuke, about um, last night I…uh…" Naruto started. Sasuke deigned to spare him a look.

"Yes, dobe?"

"Well, I was really sleepy. And I was so sure you were gonna, you know…like, _fondle_ me an' shit in the night an' I didn't want that to happen so I was tryin' to stay awake an' stuff. But then I fell asleep an'"

"_Dobe_." Sasuke scowled. _Get to your point_. That scowl said.

"An' well, when I fell asleep, I woke myself up cuz I didn't wanna sleep, and in my sleep I had _moved_ closer to you. So I thought that like, younger me was trying to work it out so we were all _friendly_ an' shit behind my back!" Naruto could see that Sasuke's dispassion was reaching rather impressive heights, so he decided to hurry up with his story.

"So, I had two options, I could go to sleep and hope that I didn't end up all over you in the morning and then not be able to explain anything. _OR_…" Here, Naruto paused and blushed, "…I guess I could have initiated it on my own, proving I control who I am cuddling with whenever I so choose, not er…younger me."

Sasuke's eyebrows lifted ever so slightly and then he smirked knowingly. Naruto blushed in frustration. He waited for it to sink in. Maybe Sasuke was just a bit slow today. No, that wasn't possible. Sasuke was never slow like that. He wanted to hear Naruto actually say the words. He wanted to make it as terribly ironic and embarrassing as possible. Naruto pleaded with his eyes like a dog begging for scraps. Sasuke ignored him.

"So, I er…cuddled." Naruto slouched in his chair. He added feebly, "With, um, you."

"So you just made snide comments at me this morning for _nothing_?"

"Well…" Naruto fidgeted, "I didn't remember until just now…and you were already up and moving around so I'd forgotten about the whole thing…"

"Yeah right." Sasuke snorted.

"Hey! I admitted to it, didn't I? Don't I get some pancakes now?! _Pleeease_."

"No, eat your block of ramen."

Naruto sighed in discontent, staring forlornly down at his ramen block. He did not want to eat it. If Sasuke was just going to be a prissy bitch about the thing, then Naruto wasn't gonna sit around all day hearing about it. He stood and left the room. He thought briefly about playing video games but he was bored of them already. Granted, Sasuke had ensured that he had every latest console under the sun and all the hottest titles to go with them. But…there was only so long Naruto could play video games before he wanted to do something else. Naruto remembered how much of a shock it had been when he'd come home from his two and a half years training with Jiraiya and seen everyone all grown up. It'd been an extra two years now; he wondered how they were all doing. Well, Naruto had seen Kiba and Hinata the other day.

Hinata's hair had grown even longer, but she now kept it up in a casual knot. Though Naruto suspected there was little else she could do with it at its current length. Kiba had kept his hair short and over all looked much the same as he had two years ago. But, something about how he carried himself was different. He seemed….more mature, he just gave off the impression he was older, despite not having changed much at all in appearance. The most shocking development of all was Hinata's sudden ability to speak clearly. She had spoken with Naruto happily, without a stutter, blush, or a quiet voice. She'd even hugged him in greeting without passing out.

Naruto wanted to see how everyone else was doing. If Sasuke was going to stay at home and be a right bastard, than Naruto wasn't gonna stick around and endure it. He shuffled right on out the door in his pajamas and started making his way to town. As soon as he got to the edge of the estate the dull throb of his younger self vying for control came back. Naruto growled and stepped a bit closer towards the house, the pain went away. Sasuke had him on a leash. Without meaning to, or knowing that he had, Sasuke had managed to keep a hold on him. Naruto felt like throwing a tantrum. What on earth was so great about Sasuke that his younger self would try and take him back to him whenever he got too far away?

He had to be able to be away from Sasuke eventually. Or else, Naruto would never be able to lead a normal life ever again. He would be permanently stuck with Sasuke for the rest of his life. Naruto shuddered at the thought. He forced himself to step forward past the gate and into the village. The pain grew at frightening speeds, nearly becoming unbearable. But Naruto forced himself to keep walking. Younger him would _NOT_ gain control of him now. He needed to get over to Kakashi's place so he could talk to him…and Iruka. Naruto received another sharp stab of pain, this time directly in the forehead and he stumbled to his knees. Holding his head in his hands he growled at the pain, but as it continually increased his growl rose from a mere rumble to a howling crescendo. Nothing had hurt as bad as this. _Nothing_. Not that Naruto could remember anyways. Finally, he couldn't take it, he wasn't strong enough and he fell onto his side. His eyelids began to droop, and he fell asleep.

"Who are you?! What are you doing to me?!"

Naruto blinked. He rubbed at his eyes and looked around. He was standing in front of the gate holding in the Kyuubi. Granted he'd been there many times, especially as a little kid when he'd had no one else but the Kyuubi to talk to. He would often come here, to the gates within his own mind and ask to sleep next to the Kyuubi, just so he wouldn't be alone. But now, he wasn't the only one standing there. A younger version of himself stood before him, his back to the gate. He was crying hysterically and screaming at him. He was wearing a straight jacket similar to the one that Naruto had been in, in the high security ward. He supposed that was the last place that his younger self had been conscious and functioning.

"I'm Naruto."

"No, I'm-"

"You were just a way for me to deal with failing to get Sasuke back and you got out of hand."

"NO! I'm me, I'm…I, where's Sasuke?! I was just there with him and then I fell asleep and I came here! I can't wake up!" His younger self stomped his feet in the ankle deep water and screamed at a childishly high pitch.

"Stop it! I don't need you anymore, I'm strong enough!"

Younger him stopped in his tantrum to stare at Naruto through his tear glazed eyes. He whimpered, "Yes you do! You DO need me, what's gonna happen when you say something to make him go away again, huh? What are you gonna do then?"

"Sasuke won't leave. He's…he's home for good this time!" Naruto's answer was shaky. He had thought, himself, about Sasuke deciding to leave again. He had been so worried that he'd put on the stupid pajamas (though they were very comfy), and told him about the other night and everything.

"How do you know? You didn't think he'd leave the first time, and he did. You can't keep him here, but I can. Let me!"

"No!" Naruto tangled his fists in his hair, screaming, "No! I don't need you! I can do it myself, leave me alone!"

"Aaahhh!"

Naruto glanced up from where he'd been frantically staring at his feet. Kyuubi had his younger self in his paw and was lifting him up for inspection. He sniffed him and eyed him, before looking past him to Naruto who was standing shakily a bit farther away from the gate. Younger him wriggled in Kyuubi's grasp and demanded to be let go. The demon fox smirked and brought his other paw to the one with his younger self and smashed him into thousands of tiny bits that decorated the walls and the water in which Naruto stood. Though the water soon dissolved the bits, the ones on the walls were starting to move. Kyuubi stood up and then let himself fall into the water, splashing it up and all over the walls, taking Naruto with it. He flew around in the water like a pebble in a stream, completely in the water's control. While under the water, neither the kyuubi or his host saw the one bit inch away around the corner and out of sight. When the water finally stopped Naruto landed at the very front of the gates, directly in Kyuubi's paw. He chuckled at him, and Naruto panted after having been thrown around under water not being able to breathe.

"I'm so glad to finally be rid of that little infection."

"Infection?" Naruto spluttered.

"Yes, usually I can handle any virus that invades your system and get rid of them. But this one has been hiding from me for two years. But now that you lured it into the open, I could kill it."

"Kyuubi, you're saying that younger me was just a virus all this time?" Naruto curled up wearily on the back of Kyuubi's paw, fisting his hands into the fur there.

"Well, I suppose you humans wouldn't call a split personality a virus, but it was still very much the same. It was just a virus in your mind and those are always more clever than regular infections."

"So he's gone for good, now?"

"Yes, kit. But you need to wake up; I think you've caused quite a stir."

"Oh, alright."

Naruto opened his eyes, groaning at the soreness in his head leftover from his younger self's attacks. Before he could properly look around to see where he was, Sasuke was next to him badgering him about if he was okay, what had he thought he was doing, where was he going that was so important and many other ones that Naruto missed. He curled up on his side and weakly pushed Sasuke away from him. He was in their bed, back at the house. Naruto squinted at Sasuke who still knelt behind him on the bed and decided to tell him the good news.

"Younger me is dead." Naruto mumbled. "Kyuubi killed 'im."

"What?"

Naruto whined pitifully at Sasuke needing further explanation. His head hurt. But still, muttering sleepily he explained the situation to his confounded friend, but he left out such intimate parts as to why his younger self kept fighting him for control. He wasn't sure he wanted Sasuke to know that yet.

"Sasuke, I'm really tired an' shit, so couldja just, ya know lay down and sleep?"

Sasuke nodded to him and crawled under the covers with him. Naruto, frustrated at not being able to remain with Kyuubi for comfort, took Sasuke as a substitute. He wrestled Sasuke into a position that Naruto was happy with, though it took a lot of grunting, prodding, and bitching. Naruto nuzzled his face into Sasuke's belly and wrapped his arms around his waist as he lay comfortably between Sasuke's legs. He was sure the Uchiha found this to be extremely undignified, but Naruto didn't care. In his sleep he'd kick and scream until Sasuke settled again if he tried to escape. Tentatively, Sasuke worked his hands into Naruto's hair where he massaged his scalp absentmindedly. Naruto hummed his appreciation, soon falling back asleep.

With younger him gone for good, Naruto could leave the estate on his own and go do stuff. This was very nice because after a full week of Sasuke bitchily fussing for him to stay inside, Naruto needed to get out. Granted, Sasuke fussed in a man way, which meant punching, kicking, and insults that were below the belt 99 percent of the time. Naruto _needed_ to get out of there. Now, he was off to the village where he was making rather startling discoveries everywhere he went. Chouji and Ino were engaged; apparently they'd been dating for a while. Hinata and Kiba were dating, though Naruto had seen that coming when Sasuke had told him that Hinata had answered the phone the first time he'd called Kiba.

Everyone was generally very happy, and even more so when he told them that he was back for good. But, in all of this meeting up with friends, Naruto was having a hard time finding Sakura. No one really knew where she was, though they all guessed she was probably on a mission they didn't know where to. Naruto ventured through town in search of Granny Tsunade who would probably know. But, when he found her in her office she refused to tell him anything.

"Tsunade! Tell meeeeee, please?"

"No, Naruto. This is a very important mission that requires a delicacy you don't have."

"But, I don't wanna join her mission, I can't until my year of recovery is up, I just wanna know when she'll be back."

"Well, I can't really tell you that either. Not because you don't get to know, but because _I_ don't know. This mission doesn't have a set conclusion date."

"Aaaah, Granny Tsunade you're killing me!" Naruto whined. Though the woman responded with her usual frustration at the nickname, he could see her fighting off a smile.

After Naruto had made her promise to tell him as soon as Sakura came home, he went to go find Kakashi. He always had a hard time remembering where his teacher's apartment was. Naruto wandered through town in his chosen pajamas for the day. After spending a full day in those froggy footy pajamas, Naruto had become addicted to them. They were absurdly comfortable, more so than any clothing should probably be. Today he was wearing the monkey one. Naruto liked it because it had a long tail that was so long he could hold it in his hand and swing it around as he walked. He had the hood up, on top of which were round monkey ears. Naruto, however determined to not get sidetracked on his way to see his teacher, could not simply pass by Lee without saying hi. He'd heard from the people he had visited that Lee was away in the Sand village with his husband Gaara. When Naruto had heard the words, Lee, husband, and Gaara in the same sentence he had laughed out loud. Surely…they were joking…right? No, no they weren't.

As Naruto sat down with Lee at a café, the fuzzy eyebrows told him all about what it was like to be the Kazekage's spouse. He was treated like royalty and might as well have had the same powers as the Kazekage himself. Though they were having a problem because it had been a year already since they were first married, and the first and foremost reason of the Kazekage having a spouse was to produce children. But, as Lee was very much male, he couldn't very well carry any children. Gaara was having a hard time keeping his advisors at bay as they were hounding him daily to find a way around this problem. But, Lee had an idea, one that Naruto probably wouldn't have thought of on his own. In fact, while Naruto was at first slightly repulsed and affronted by the concept was delighted at now having something to do.

"So, how about I meet you at your house later, Naruto-kun?" Lee asked.

"Sure, fuzzy eyebrows. I still have some more people to see, but I'll meet you at the house no later than five, alright?"

"Alright! I have people to visit as well; I must tell Gai-sensei this wonderful news!"

Naruto paid the waitress for their teas they'd ordered, and hurried on his way again. The springtime air was cool but not freezing. It was like the breeze was teasing him with a hint of warmth only to make him shiver a second later at its chill. People in town greeted him warmly or shot him the standard glares as he passed them by. Naruto was used to the sharp difference in the village, and so didn't pay it any mind. As he moved farther and farther in and around town he continually was stopped by his old friends. Their new (or old he had been out for two years) significant others were of course with them, or off doing something that was then related to Naruto. It seemed that while Naruto had been under the control of his younger self everyone had been pairing off into these happy little 'couples'. Some of the pairs he encountered were not the ones he expected at all, while others were glaringly obvious. But though Naruto was happy for all of them, he couldn't help but feel left out.

It seemed that he and Sasuke were the only bums who hadn't gone out and gotten girls. Sure, they'd both been preoccupied during the 'mating years' as Naruto was beginning to call them, but it still didn't make Naruto feel any better about being blindingly single. In the end, Naruto did find Kakashi in his apartment which was on the opposite side of town from the Uchiha estate. He eagerly threw himself into the man's arms.

"Kakashi-sensei! I'm back, ol' Naruto, the _real_ Naruto, for good!"

"I can see that." Kakashi welcomed him in and they sat down at the table in his small kitchen.

Naruto gazed at the size of the kitchen and felt much more at home than in the kitchen in Sasuke's house. It was so huge that Naruto wondered what they could possibly need that much space for. Nothing you could possibly try and cook required that much room. It wasn't like they were going to entertain guests in there; they had the dining hall for that. (Naruto had once inspected the dining hall during his initial exploration of the furnished part of the estate and found the room bewildering in its size). But Kakashi's kitchen was much like the one in Naruto's apartment. Small, with a tiny square table shoved into one corner with only two chairs. Naruto now sat in one of those chairs and talked with Kakashi about all that'd he'd missed. His sensei had even revealed to him that Naruto's younger self had drawn a picture of Kakashi when trying to explain his dad to Sasuke in the sanatorium. Sasuke had accidentally almost called him 'dad' too, and Kakashi desperately wanted to make sure that Naruto wasn't a part of this traumatizing conspiracy.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto wasn't sure how to break it to the man gently.

Of course, Naruto hadn't really called Kakashi 'dad' in his mind or out loud. But, suddenly Naruto felt that with Kakashi providing the word, he'd found the perfect way to describe his relation to the man. Before, Naruto had tried to describe the relationship in his head. Kakashi was his teacher. But, generally no student formed a bond with their teacher that strong. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura had looked up to him, cared about him, and felt safe when with him. Often times, when they weren't on missions, before Sasuke had run away to Orochimaru, Naruto would feel as though he truly had a family. For once in his life, he had a relatively stable family unit. But now that the word 'dad' and 'father' was supplied to him, Naruto couldn't really argue with the label.

"It really isn't a bad thing!" Naruto tried to comfort him, but Kakashi groaned when Naruto didn't deny the idea.

"What is it about me that's so fatherly?!" Kakashi demanded in profound frustration.

"Just, Kakashi…I don't know how to say it! I'm not the one that's good with the putting the words together and them coming out, thing! That's Sakura!"

"_Try_."

"When we're with you…it's like we're this small crazy family. We feel safe with you, and..and we _admire_ you an' shit, an' even when we were all off with our other masters we came home to _you_." Naruto fumbled, and felt like he wasn't making any sense. Finally, a blurry memory of talking to Sakura when they were younger came into view.

_"I can't wait to get married, Naruto-kun!" Sakura squealed, twirling her long pink hair around her finger._

_"Why?"_

_"Why?!__ You idiot, __it's__ romantic!"_

_"Yeah yeah, you go find your prince charming, he proposes, your 'daddy' walks you down the aisle and you kiss the groom. Hurrah, the end." Naruto grumbled, __not really paying attention to Sakura at all._

_"Well, yeah!" Sakura retorted, "When we're all grown up, you'll come to Sasuke's and my wedding right? __Ooooh__ and __Kakashi__ could walk me down the aisle! It would be perfect!"_

_Naruto squinted at her in confusion, "You want __Kakashi__-sensei to walk you down the aisle? What for? Isn't your dad supposed to do that?"_

_Sakura blushed and looked away from him for a moment. She then confidently told him, "Exactly! __Kakashi's__ the closest thing I've got, and he's going to walk me down the aisle whether he likes it or not!"_

Naruto smiled at the memory and shared it with Kakashi who sighed in defeat. They spent another hour or two catching up, and finally when Naruto glanced at the clock he leapt out of his chair in a hurry.

"Damnit, I'm late! I'll talk to you later Kakashi-sensei!"

"Late for what?" Kakashi had called after him, but Naruto ignored him and ran all the way back to the estate.

He had promised to meet the fuzzy eyebrows there to help him out with his, er, _problem_. When he finally arrived, Lee was waiting for him, and he leapt to his feet at Naruto's appearance. Immediately they got to work. Of course, when Sasuke came outside and saw one of Lee's first attempts he looked like he might have a heart attack. Though Lee was a skilled ninja, Naruto's sexy-no-jutsu technique was very hard to grasp for most. The early results were always potentially scarring for their viewers. But Naruto kept faith, continuing to work on it with Lee well into the evening. When it was too dark outside to really practice anymore, Lee returned to Gai-sensei's apartment where he was staying while in Konoha.

Naruto, in turn, went inside the house and sat down at the kitchen table with Sasuke.

"Um, may I ask exactly why you're teaching that ridiculous technique to Lee?" Sasuke asked him.

"He needs to find a way to have kids so that Gaara's advisors will stop bugging him about his lack of loin-fruit."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at that and Naruto told him all that he'd discovered during the day. Hinata and Kiba were dating, Chouji and Ino were engaged, Gaara and Lee were married, and Sakura was on some top secret mission with no definite return date. Neji and Ten-Ten were married; Sai and Shino might _possibly_ be dating, though Naruto was sure it was some weird rumor someone had started. Shikamaru was now officially Temari's bitch, whereas he had _un_officially been before. Sasuke and him had a great deal of laughs together on the whole matter of the pairing off that had been going on while they were both 'away'.

"Seriously, I feel like we're the only ones that are single anymore. It's so stupid."

"Well, there's Sakura. She isn't with anyone, so she can suffer with us." Sasuke pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess."

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Naruto spent his days visiting with his friends in town, fighting with Sasuke over stupid stuff, and helping Lee perfect his Sexy-no-jutsu. Lee was also wondering about how to possibly control his chakra reserves while pregnant, and so Naruto was then forced to try and outline a way to avoid accidentally terminating the pregnancy. When Sasuke wasn't bickering with him, Naruto tried to consult the idea with him. Eventually they worked out a way to keep the internal organs female, by using a low amount of chakra, so that Lee could safely go all nine months without having to worry. But, it would still be a good idea for Lee to practice controlling his chakra, and keeping it focused in the background while doing other things. So that was their next goal. 

Still, it took a few days over a month for Lee to be ready to return to the Sand village and get knocked up. Yet, Sakura still wasn't home yet. Naruto was beginning to worry. He talked to Sasuke about it, who told him to calm down; Sakura could probably handle herself, whatever it was that she was doing. But Naruto was not assuaged. He made his way to Tsunade's office to confront her about where exactly Sakura was. She'd been gone for over a month now on some super secret mission, and Naruto wanted answers. He marched into Tsunade's office prepared to yell and scream and kick like a baby until the woman told him where his friend was. But that plan flew out of his mind upon barging into Tsunade's office.

"Sakura-chan?!" Naruto cried, "What is _he_ doing here?!"

Standing next to Sakura, as though he wandered into his home village all the time, was Itachi Uchiha. His long billowing cloak with its red clouds reminded Naruto all too well of all that he'd done. All the people he'd killed, and tortured. Naruto nearly attacked him, but Sakura came to stand in his way. He paused, staring at Sakura in confusion.

"Sakura-chan! Get out of my way, he's-"

"Not the same guy you knew, Naruto." Sakura told him firmly.

"Good, Naruto, I'm actually glad you're here, for once. Sit down; I'm going to need your help." Tsunade told him.

Naruto remained standing. He was not going to calmly sit down. He patiently listened as the situation was explained to him. He didn't believe a word of it, though he was very tempted to. Sakura had been, a month ago, sent to infiltrate Akatsuki and gain their trust. Eventually she would send information back to Konoha and enforcement would be sent in. But while Sakura was there, she discovered several things that had changed their plans a little. Itachi had not joined Akatsuki willingly. The leader Pain had demanded he join. When Itachi did not follow Orochimaru in joining their ranks, Pain had sent his top members of the group to kill off the Uchiha clan. In the end, Itachi agreed to join them, on the condition that they spare Sasuke. He used a genjutsu to make Sasuke think that he had killed their clan, and to fill him with the hatred to make him strong enough to kill the other members of Akatsuki. When Sakura had joined the group, she'd drifted close to Itachi. She promised him she could bring him home, and that together they could take down the other members, and be rid of the evil organization forever.

According to the rings that sat on Tsunade's desk, and the scroll detailing plans to take out the Uchiha clan confirming the story, Naruto felt like he'd just been hit with far too much information at once. He did, ultimately sit down, but only to keep him from falling on the ground in a dead feint. Like Sasuke killing Orochimaru had kept him from being sentenced to death, so Itachi's record was expunged for his taking down the Akatsuki. But, unlike Sasuke, he would not be allowed to regain his status as ninja, or attempt to qualify again. Still, Naruto had no idea how they were going to tell Sasuke this. After all this time, striving to kill his brother only to find out that the reason behind this urge wasn't true. Naruto feared what Sasuke might do upon discovering this.

"I think that…we should wait awhile." Naruto started hoarsely. He hadn't spoken at all during the several hours it had taken to explain what had happened. "And when we do tell Sasuke that we should make sure we're in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and somewhere really well secured. Lots of people to help restrain him and…and such…"

"It's alright Naruto, I don't expect him to accept me, and all I want is for him to know I'm here." Itachi told him, "I just want him to know what really happened. What he decides after that is up to him."

Naruto nodded numbly. He hugged Sakura, and told the three ninja in the room that he was going home. He shuffled through town wearily. Naruto felt like he'd just been hit over the head with a sledgehammer. When he did return to the house, Sasuke wasn't home. There was a note on the fridge telling him that he'd gone to the market to get some more groceries because they were running out of food. He'd be back later. Naruto settled himself down in the living room for a long wait. Sasuke always took a long time at the market. It seemed to be his worst vice, shopping at the grocery store. Naruto turned on a few movies, only getting halfway through them before becoming bored and popping in a different one. Eventually he had gone to sleep while watching old black and white TV shows.

When he awoke, he could hear the sounds of Sasuke moving around in the kitchen putting away groceries. Naruto got up to help him. Today he had worn his lion footies, and so his long lion tail railed behind him on the floor. He shuffled blearily into the kitchen and started taking things out of bags and putting them away in their proper place. Sasuke glanced over his shoulder and greeted him casually, asking him if he'd gotten any information out of Tsunade. Naruto forced himself to tell Sasuke he'd found out nothing, that as usual Tsunade had remained her tight lipped self and not let out anything. She'd merely told him to go home and be patient. Sasuke nodded at that, it made sense. After both folding the paper bags and tossing them into the recycling they collapsed into chairs at the kitchen table.

"Sasuke…"

"Hmm."

"You know what the worst thing about us being the only two single guys in town is?"

"What, dobe?"

"None of the other guys will hang out with us cuz they have girlfriends. So we only have each other to hang out with." Naruto mumbled in frustration.

"I'm really that bad, huh?" Sasuke retorted.

"Yes, you argue too much. You're no fun."

"Oh really? I'm no fun; we'll see how fun I am when I run away again." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto sat up in his chair instantly and told Sasuke firmly, "Don't joke about that."

* * *

Sasuke arched an eyebrow at his friend. He'd just been joking, but Naruto had reacted so seriously. What was up? He watched as Naruto nervously got up and started poking around in the fridge, deciding what they would have for dinner. Naruto would ask where something is, and Sasuke would absently answer him, more intent on how strangely Naruto was asking. His joke about running away shouldn't have set the dobe off like that. Sasuke stood up and told Naruto to sit down and let him cook. After all, Naruto didn't know how to cook anything that didn't go in the microwave. 

"You know I was only joking, right, dobe?" Sasuke asked eventually, after deciding on making spaghetti for dinner.

"I know you were. You don't really care that much cuz you don't know what you leaving did to us." Naruto said camly.

Sasuke didn't reply to that. He went about boiling the water and taking out the things he'd need to start making the garlic bread. He knew that his running away had affected the village, had affected Naruto and Sakura and Kakashi. He knew that it had affected them a lot. But Sasuke also knew that he would never truly understand the pain he had put them through, he could only know that they felt it. So really there was nothing he could say to Naruto.

"You know, a month ago, when younger me died?" Naruto asked.

"Hm." Sasuke nodded.

"The reason he kept trying to stay in control, was to make me stay with you, to make sure you didn't leave again." Naruto admitted, "Because by myself I always felt weak for not stopping you, not bringing you home. Younger me told me that I wasn't strong enough, that he was and I should just let him have control."

Sasuke added the spaghetti to the now boiling water and turned down the heat on the stove. He set the timer and returned to kneading the dough for the garlic bread. Naruto tip toed around the island counter and stood next to him. Sasuke sighed and looked up from what he was doing to acknowledge his friend. Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke and rested his forehead wearily on Sasuke's shoulder. If he didn't know for sure that Naruto's younger self was dead, he would have sworn he had returned.

"I'm not leaving, Naruto."

"Promise me you won't run away again. I'm not strong enough to stop you…I can't… I can't…"

"I promise." Sasuke told him firmly, "Now let go of me dobe, I need to cook dinner."

Naruto nodded and returned to the table, though Sasuke felt as though he hadn't reassured him enough. Sasuke sighed inwardly; he would have to find a way.

**TBC…

* * *

**


	10. Chapter 10

**Mad World**

Chapter 10 - Let's just sleep

* * *

"Well, Naruto, I mean, Itachi can't just go walking around in his dark evil cape all the time! He has to get a new wardrobe." Sakura insisted.

Naruto squinted at the evil supposed clan-slaying red eyed man. He looked…_strange_ without the 'dark evil cape'. Sakura had him dressed up in _normal_ clothes. Plain dark-wash jeans and a t shirt, and his scratched headband had been removed. She'd done his hair up in a rather flattering ponytail, no doubt having pinned his bangs back with bobby pins. And his shoes. He wasn't wearing sandals, and instead was in…tennis shoes? Naruto sighed and turned to look at Sakura. The girl he had once pined for near obsessively. Now she was like a big sister to him, a friend, and if dressing Itachi Uchiha like a normal guy made her happy then so be it. If it made her happy to drag Naruto along for the shopping spree, then so be it. He groaned and fell into step with them, entering town completely unnoticed. Naruto paused for a minute. Why wasn't everyone simultaneously freaking out at seeing a mass murderer walking around?

Wait.a.second. Naruto peered at Itachi closely and realized that if he hadn't already known who he was, he wouldn't be able to tell. He guessed the trench coat with the ominous red clouds and girly nail polish made him stand out a bit.

"So, in order to get him a _normal_ wardrobe you brought ME along? How does that even make any kind of sense, Sakura?" Naruto questioned despite himself. "I mean, look at me. I'm wearing footy pajamas."

"He has a point." Itachi concurred in that sleep deprived voice of his.

Naruto had been spending the last week either with Sakura and Itachi or with Sasuke. He was still torn as to which was worse. Ever since Naruto and Sasuke had a sort of 'not fight' Sasuke had been acting weird. He wasn't clingy; in fact he was the opposite of clingy. He was just…weird. When he wasn't with Sasuke who was being 'not clingy', he was around Sakura and Itachi, two people he had never _ever_ dreamed of hanging out with. Naruto had quickly learned that Itachi was relatively a polite person, just not a talkative one, not unlike his younger brother. He had this tone to his voice that suggested he never quite got enough sleep. If anything, Naruto would have said that Itachi killed people for talking to him too early in the morning. But, despite getting to know the man that turned Naruto's best friend into a crazy vengeful idiot, Naruto found that something else was a little off about the situation. Sakura wasn't just friendly with Itachi…she was something else entirely. She truly enjoyed having him around and seemed to hold no grudges against him.

"Shush, don't agree with Naruto, that's something that makes no sense." Naruto shot Sakura a bewildered look. She just told _the_ Itachi Uchiha to 'shush'.

"Also true." Itachi agreed politely. A moment later he pointed out a clothing shop nearby. Sakura promptly dragged him over to it and Naruto was left once again with his jaw a bit slack. He was high…surely, off of something. He was seeing things, hearing things too. Maybe he was in a coma, and in the coma he was having a dream where Itachi willingly went shopping with his usually sworn enemies.

Naruto's shoulders slumped as he grudgingly followed the two inside. It was one of those shops, Naruto noticed. The ones that have high quality, very nice looking clothing. But, at the same time, a pair of jeans costs you $128. Sakura reasoned that this was perfectly fine because Naruto had access to the Uchiha vault. Due to his current…living arrangements. Now _this_ brought on an awkward air between Itachi and Naruto.

"Sasuke gave you a keycard to our vaults…because you're living with him?" Itachi repeated the information he'd just heard from Sakura. Naruto nodded.

"Well, ya know, sometimes I have to do the errands like going to the grocery market or to the post office…it just makes things…easier."

Itachi nodded, again with his unreasonably polite nature, and meandered through the clothing racks with Sakura. Naruto trailed after them, much resembling the puppy pajamas he had worn that day. Sakura picked out countless pairs of jeans and forced them towards Itachi. After being directed to the fitting rooms the Uchiha slayer disappeared. Naruto had watched the jean selection and found himself puzzled as they all looked the same to him. But Sakura assured him, they were all different cuts of jeans and look very different once the person puts them on. Naruto waited, watching for the differences. The first pair of jeans he'd picked to put on was form fitting in a way that made Sakura's face as pink as her hair. Naruto growled in a protective manner, inching closer to his friend but at the same time he knew he wasn't that intimidating looking. They hugged at his hips and stretched taught across his front, and when he turned around left nothing to the imagination in the back. At the fork of his crotch they loosened and fell straight down over his tennis shoes. Sakura, as expected gave them the thumbs up. In response to this, Itachi allowed her the slightest glimpse of a playful smirk on his lips. Then, it was gone, and he returned to the dressing room.

Sakura stared bashfully at her sandals and Naruto snorted. "So Sakura…when were you going to tell me you and Itachi are going out?"

"I, Naruto…we're not, did he…" Sakura sighed, "It's really obvious isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Naruto grinned at the way Sakura was fidgeting now and he rested a pajama paw on her shoulder. "It's really freaky an' shit, an' it'll take me a while to get used to…but I think I can…maybe."

"Thank you Naruto." Sakura murmured, placing her hand over his paw. But she removed it quickly as Itachi had just come out in his latest pick of jeans.

They spent the afternoon choosing new clothes, and by the end of the day Naruto had lost track of how much money they'd spent. Together they all walked back to Sakura's apartment where the happy couple was staying. Naruto shuddered to think what they might be doing up there all alone with no one to watch them. He made a face, but quickly righted it when Sakura turned to give him a hug. He accepted gladly and told her that he'd better be heading home. She nodded. Inside she went. Itachi remained the porch however, staring at Naruto as if he was about to say something. But Sakura grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside before he had the chance. Naruto rolled his eyes and started the trek home. He had errands to do too, which he was supposed to do earlier while the ItachiAndSakura!team were clothes shopping. But, Sakura obviously had wanted him to be there. Though Naruto hadn't realized it at all at the time, the reason he'd been brought along was the 'friend approving the mate' scenario. If Naruto could get past the whole identity of said mate, he probably would have liked him just fine. He was polite, endured Sakura's incessant chatter with a smile on his face, and really seemed to like her. To boot, Sakura really liked him. It would have been perfect, if he wasn't a crazy mass murderer who was a part of a criminal group that sucked a demon out of one of his closest friends. Naruto frowned at this. Itachi was different; in fact, he'd never been that evil person. It was all Akatsuki's doing. It was all…Naruto stepped into the post office and checked Sasuke's box for any of their mail. _Bills, bills, junk, __mission schedules for Sasuke next month, mail from Lee and __Gaara__…_Naruto jumped at that last part.

He opened the letter with the official Kazekage's seal on it and began reading on his way to the dry cleaners.

_Dear Naruto-kun,_

_Our plan is in motion. Just as we expected the advisors are not too thrilled by the idea of me carrying children. Well, they weren't very happy with the whole '__Gaara__ choosing a male spouse' thing either, so let's hope they get over the pregnancy idea soon too. I will mail you as soon as we try the pregnancy test and get a positive. If this all works out, you will come to the birth, right? __Gaara's__ excited about this in his own, more willing to sleep, public displays of affection way.__ Thank you so much for your help, we truly appreciate it. _

_Love,_

_Lee_

Naruto smiled and tucked the letter back into its envelope. He was glad things were working out for them, and hopefully the advisors wouldn't get on their case too much. Lee had been so excited about this working out. Not to mention, Lee had told Naruto that the advisors made snide comments all the time about the fact that Gaara had not chosen a female spouse. While Lee had been raised by Gai-sensei to be a very patient, and kind person, he was having some difficulty with being harassed nearly every day by 'insufferable old men'. Naruto winced at the memory of Lee relating some of their harsher words. Into the dry cleaners he went. Naruto was met with a crowd of men. All of them he knew, of course, but Naruto found it funny that they all were sent there on orders of their boyfriends/fiancés/girlfriends. Standing around, grumbling to each other as their orders were made ready were: Shikamaru, Kiba, Sai, Neji, and Chouji.

"Hey guys." Naruto greeted, padding over to them after telling the clerk what order he was waiting on.

"Hey." Was the collective grumble. Then they shot him a look of confusion. Kiba was the one to voice the question.

"Who sent you?"

"Sasuke." Naruto answered easily.

The group laughed. "Dude, you two might as well be dating."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, awkwardly putting the mail into his front pocket.

The other guys shot each other looks. They were all there as a part of the daily errands, sent off to do so by their significant others. Even Sai, who apparently really was dating Shino, was there. They reasoned with Naruto, explaining what the whole village had been thinking. What the whole village had started thinking behind Naruto and Sasuke's backs. Naruto glared at the completely reasonable logic they were using. They lived together, they slept in the same bed (how they'd found that out Naruto didn't want to know), they traded off doing the errands and laundry. Naruto growled at them in warning, though when none of them bothered to look sufficiently cowed, he sighed.

"Do we really act like that?"

"Yeah, you guys really do." Kiba nodded.

Slowly, one by one other orders came up and the group dwindled until it was only Naruto left waiting. He picked up his order, which came in a huge cardboard box, and off he went. Naruto dug around in his pocket for the list of things Sasuke had asked him to do while he was out. _Dry cleaning: done, post office: done, Grocery market for milk, __o.j__., and more ramen: not done._ Naruto sighed and pivoted on one foot, heading back in the direction he came. One more stop and then he could go home. _Home_. Naruto rolled his eyes. He supposed that in some ways he and Sasuke did act like a couple. It felt like pins and needles admitting it, even if he was only telling himself in thought. That would be the first thing he asked Sasuke when he got home, _do we act like we're a couple?_ Sasuke would snort, roll his eyes and then avoid him for the rest of the day. He might, if he was especially offended by the comment, make him sleep on the couch. Such an action in itself would only be proving the question correct, but if Naruto were to voice such a thought it would be met with violent rage.

Once in the grocery market, Naruto took advantage of the cart and put the dry cleaning in it. He pushed the cart through the store, heading for the refrigerated section so he could get the milk and orange juice. Naruto stopped at the right case and scanned the shelf for Sasuke's preferred kind. He liked the one with the little cow on it, and the pink cap. The pink cap was just shy of whole milk. Extremely fattening, but the best with cereal and baking, Sasuke had told him. He would be angry with Naruto if he didn't get the full size jug of milk, but the smaller carton was easier to carry home. The grocery market people, while sympathetic would not allow him to wheel one of their carts all the way back to the Uchiha estate. Sighing in defeat, Naruto pulled two jugs of milk out of the case and put them in the cart. He moved down a few cases. There, he pulled out two orange juices similar in size. Green caps. This was how Sasuke made sure Naruto remembered which to get from the market. Color coded caps were very helpful. Next was the ramen: _Naruto, I don't care how long it takes you to carry it home. Get enough ramen to last you a year so I don't have to keep going out to get more._ That was what Sasuke had said to him upon writing ramen on the list.

Naruto stood in the aisle where the ramen was kept. He stared forlornly up at the large crates of ramen. The ones they had in the largest crate was his favorite kind even. But then, he looked down at everything in the cart he could not take home with him. When Naruto stood outside the grocery market, strategizing on how he could possibly carry all of the groceries home he cursed Sasuke's name. _The things I do for you_, Naruto whined inwardly. Ultimately Naruto found a way to carry the groceries that actually worked well. He had the crate of ramen on top of the box of dry cleaning which he carried in one arm. With his free hand he carried the bags with the orange juice and milk. Okay, so he couldn't really see past the crate of ramen, but he was carrying it wasn't he?

On his way back to the house he nearly collided with several people. He apologized sincerely and refused their offers to help him carry his groceries home. Naruto was going to do this, by himself, to prove to Sasuke the insanity of the things he made him do. Of course, when he arrived home finally, Naruto was so tired he almost couldn't will himself to start an argument. Unlocking the front door with his house key had been very tricky, and probably interesting to watch. Then he stumbled into the kitchen and set the dry cleaning and ramen down on the kitchen table, and the bags on the island counter. Naruto wiped the sweat off his brow and groaned at the time. It was six o'clock already? Damnit.

"Sasukeeeee, get your ass in here and look at all that I just carried home for your pathetic dainty self!" Naruto howled.

* * *

Sasuke, upon hearing Naruto's cry felt thoroughly offended. He seriously considered staying in the office and reading the book he'd started that afternoon. Sasuke Uchiha was not _dainty_ or, he reasoned, _pathetic_. But, knowing that Naruto's ego was a fragile one that needed much stroking and praise, Sasuke prepared himself to walk into the kitchen and act proud. He shuffled into the kitchen feeling very disgruntled. The amount of surprised he truly felt was minimal, but he let it show on his face and multiplied the feeling times ten. Naruto developed a cocky, satisfied look to his face at Sasuke's slightly widened eyes.

"All the way from the grocery market on the other side of town, you know the one near that bookstore with the coffeeshop?" Sasuke nodded at Naruto's obscure yet accurate depiction, "They wouldn't let me take the cart home so I had to carry all of this from there to the estate. Might I add that with the ramen you told me to get on top of the box I couldn't see _anything_?"

Sasuke nodded and cringed and widened his eyes a bit at the appropriate times. Naruto sighed and collapsed at the kitchen table when he was finished with his rant. Sasuke grabbed the dry cleaning and moved it to the kitchen floor and sat down opposite Naruto. They eyed each other, Naruto more wearily than Sasuke. Obviously the fox boy had more to say or else he would have started putting away the groceries. Sasuke, not entirely in the mood for a fight, stayed where he was and waited.

"You know the whole village thinks we're a couple?" Naruto whined.

"Great." Sasuke leant his head against his hand and rolled his eyes. Typical.

Leave it to his legions of fangirls to propose such a ludicrous idea. Granted they had several facts on their side, but couldn't it just be possible for two guys to live together and _not_ be having sex? Sasuke shared an exasperated look with Naruto and they both laughed. How stupid was the village? Seriously. Sasuke got up from his place at the table and started putting things away. Naruto joked lightly about how much ramen he'd bought and asked him teasingly if it would be enough. With one glance, in all seriousness, Sasuke knew it wouldn't be. He was sure that subconsciously as soon as Naruto saw that much ramen he would try and eat it all as quickly as possible. Sasuke didn't understand why this happened, but it just did. Thankfully, Naruto never binged so much that he got sick, so truthfully the crate of ramen would last them a few weeks. He picked it up and put it on top of the refrigerator. Then, idly he crumpled the plastic bags and threw them away.

"So, what'd you do today?" Sasuke asked casually.

"I went clothes shopping with Sakura."

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. It was becoming a reflex, really, from all the things that Naruto said on a daily basis. Sakura had probably wheedled Naruto into spending a few thousand dollars on overpriced clothing for her. It wasn't like they didn't have the money, Sasuke knew, but he wished that Sakura would quit taking advantage of it. He deftly lifted the box of clothes off the floor and shuffled into their bedroom to put them away. Sasuke was tired of having to use the dry cleaners for their laundry. But Naruto's footy pajamas weren't supposed to go in the regular washing machine. That and Sasuke didn't want to have to make two stops in town, at the Laundromat and the dry cleaners so he opted to do all of their laundry at one place. Though it did leave their clothes nicely pressed and warmed, Sasuke knew that carrying it home in this box like this was frustrating. On one of his turns to do the errands he had unfortunately miscalculated and ended up being the one to pick up the clothes. So, technically Naruto's bitching was valid. Carrying home the laundry sucked.

He moved easily towards the living room where Naruto had probably migrated. As expected the blonde was sprawled on the couch, not even watching TV. His eyes were closed. Sasuke grumbled and swatted at Naruto's feet. He opened his eyes and then closed them again, scrunching up his legs so Sasuke could sit on the couch. He swung his legs up onto the edge of the couch, and Naruto rolled onto his side so they would fit. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's legs and lifted them on top of his, and leaned against the arm of the couch his head tilted slightly against the back. Okay, so they really did act like a couple. Sasuke cringed inwardly. Here they were, relaxing on the couch after Naruto got back from errands. In fact, they were in a position they both had been in with each other so many times that they automatically knew to switch into it without saying anything. Sasuke allowed his eyelids to droop as he stared at Naruto's face. He was laying peacefully, his head resting on Sasuke's ankles, one arm casually wrapped around his calves. That moment, Sasuke let himself smile, and really by anyone else's definition it wasn't a smile. It was a Sasuke smile. The corners of his mouth were curled up only a little, and his eyes were completely relaxed and _non _hateful. It was at this moment that Naruto squinted blearily at Sauske and chuckled sleepily.

"We're such fruits, 'ske." Naruto mumbled.

"Yeah, we probably are." Sasuke replied. He tried to wiggle his ankles free of Naruto's grip, "I gotta go make dinner, dobe."

"Nuh uh, nap time."

Sasuke sighed. If this were younger Naruto, he would have roughly shaken him off, tickled him and then gone and made dinner anyways. But this was older Naruto, who was stronger, who knew his height and used it to his advantage. Sasuke couldn't just wriggle out of his hold and chuck him across the room. He'd have to kick and claw and wrestle his way free if he really wanted to get way. But at the moment he didn't feel he had the energy. Besides, if Naruto was hungry he would have let Sasuke go. But truthfully, Sasuke wasn't hungry either, he just wanted to get away from Naruto before that comment had developed into something. '_We're such fruits_'. A harmless statement really. But the fact that everything about the way they acted except for the lack of sex/kissing made them seem like a couple, was bothering Sasuke the more the thought about it. If they kissed, if they crossed that line, Sasuke wasn't sure what would change. He didn't want to find out.

Mostly, Sasuke wasn't afraid that they'd get together and be happy homos. He was afraid that he would like it, and that Naruto, Captain Heterosexual, would not. Sasuke wouldn't be able to handle that. He knew he wouldn't. It would be just one more thing that made Sasuke different, and not as good as Naruto. He'd mostly set aside their differences and accepted they were friends. Okay, that was fine. Sasuke didn't want that to change. Naruto tightened his hold on Sasuke's ankles and growled at him, '_stop fucking moving_'. Sasuke stilled his movements and glared back.

"Sasuke, stop moving, don't you dare make me shower you with love and affection. I'll do it too."

Sasuke froze. It wasn't worth the risk. Naruto held to his word, and he would do it. The showering of love and affection he was talking about was a strange mixture of wrestling, cuddling, kissing, and raspberry'ing. Sasuke hated it, and Naruto found it thoroughly entertaining. Naruto would usually grab Sasuke around the waist and tackle him to the floor where he would then nuzzle every inch of him he could. He would make exaggerated smooching sounds, and raspberries all over his stomach, neck, and face. Oh how Sasuke hated it. The main reason he hated it was because it tickled, and he couldn't hold back laughter when he was being tickled like that. No Uchiha should laugh so openly and in such an undignified manner. But at the moment he hated the idea, he loathed it, he abhorred it with every fiber of his being. He was too tense to merely laugh at that sort of attention. Now his mind was entirely focused on Naruto's 'fruit' snippet. If Naruto so much as nuzzled his stomach, Sasuke was sure he would not laugh. Instead he would make some other noises he didn't _ever_ want Naruto to hear.

"What would you make for dinner if I let you go?" Naruto questioned.

"I was thinking of starting on that pot roast, and having a late dinner while we watch that one movie you wanted to see." He waited.

Naruto paused a minute before asking, "What kind of pot roast?"

"Beef."

"Okay."

Just like that Naruto relinquished his hold on him and Sasuke stumbled gracelessly towards the kitchen. He breathed deeply and began moving around the kitchen getting out the things he would need. Sasuke had never been fond of the cooking process for a pot roast. It took four hours at the minimum, and you were never quite sure if the meat was perfect or not when you pulled it out. Still, he followed through with his word and started the roast, and returned to the living room to watch a movie with Naruto. It was some silly action flick pumped full of testosterone and explosions. As he was, still, naturally male, Sasuke enjoyed it at least to a sufficient degree. Sufficient meaning that he could talk about its good scenes with Naruto without actually lying.

They sat down to dinner at 10pm. When they were finished Sasuke had a hard time bringing himself to clean up the dinner mess. But before he could force himself to stand and move to the sink, Naruto waved hi m away, offering to do it for him. Sasuke sighed with relief.

"You go to bed, I've got this. I'll be in, in a sec." Naruto told him generously.

Sasuke gagged as he tried to view the situation through some rabid fangirl's eyes. They sounded like they were married. He went into the bedroom first, undressing and putting his dirty clothes in the hamper. Sasuke stood in front of the dresser, stark naked. He had the drawer that held their pajamas open. The left side of the drawer was Naruto's, and the right side was his. The clothes weren't really that different. They were both mostly lanky wife beaters and flannel drawstring pants. Sasuke grabbed a pair of pants and pulled them on, and he shut the drawer. Meandering down the hall into the bathroom, Sasuke paused at the doorway to the kitchen. Naruto was standing at the sink with his sleeves rolled up while he washed the dishes. Feeling that someone was watching him, Naruto glanced towards the doorway and smiled at him. Sasuke nodded and entered the kitchen. He grabbed one of the rags from the sink that Naruto wasn't using and started washing down the counters. He dried them and then swept the floor to get rid of the scraps that had fallen when he'd wiped the counters off. Then, he started drying the dishes Naruto had washed, and put them away in their proper place.

When they'd finished cleaning, Sasuke went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. Naruto followed him and stood behind him, looking at the mirror over his shoulder. Sasuke held the wash cloth against his cheek and stared at their reflections. Naruto had a toothbrush hanging loosely in his mouth, and Sasuke had the washcloth in his hands. Sasuke jolted, startled, when Naruto put a hand on his shoulder. But he calmed down when it was merely to move him out of the way so Naruto could spit into the sink. He grabbed a cup and filled it with water to gargle. While Sasuke put the washcloth in the hamper and plucked one off the shelf to hand to Naruto they traded tasks. He brushed his teeth while the blond standing next to him washed his face. Now that Naruto's mouth wasn't full he started talking.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, but I got a letter from Lee today." Naruto told him. "He said that they've put the plan into motion, told the advisors and everything."

"Hm," Sasuke replied, "How ah they taking that?"

Talking with his mouth full of toothpaste had never been Sasuke's forte.

"As bitchy as usual, they sure are giving Lee a lot of shit apparently. I feel bad for him."

Sasuke nodded.

"And your mission schedule came for you in the mail too, it's for next month. You get off your probation and get to start working again on the second of next month."

Sasuke spat into the sink and reached for a paper cup to fill with water, "Really? That soon? I thought Sakura said it would be more like five months, not two."

"I guess so." Naruto answered, chucking his washcloth into the hamper. "Oy, shuffle off, I gotta take a piss."

"Sure thing, blunt as a 2x4."

"What would you have me say?" Naruto called to him as he 'shuffled off' down the hall.

"I dunno, shove me out the door and close it or something." Sasuke grumbled before seriously adding, "And wash your hands!"

"Prude!"

"Unhygienic moron!"

Sasuke crawled under the covers, into their bed. With a definite feeling of satisfaction he heard Naruto wash his hands _and_ remember to flush. Hah. Win. He heard the light click off in the bathroom and their bedroom door open and shut. Naruto wandered into the room and over to the dresser. Sasuke could only see his outline but he knew it too well by now. Naruto bared all, removing his footy pajamas and boxers and purposefully leaving them on the floor. He opened the same drawer that Sasuke had only a little bit ago. He yanked his legs through the flannel pants and shoved the drawer closed. Then, with as much grace as a humpback whale, Naruto belly flopped onto the bed. He crawled up the middle and rolled onto his back, folding his arms behind his head. Sasuke laughed and Naruto growled.

"Was adding 'moron' onto the end really necessary?"

"Yes."

"Ugh. C'mere."

Naruto slid under the covers and drew Sasuke into his arms. Sasuke did not protest as Naruto rested his head on top of his and tighten his hold around Sasuke's waist. "You know Sasuke, we should just tell those girls we're together, and maybe they'd leave you alone when you went into town."

"No they wouldn't, they'd become a different kind of fangirl then."

"Oh, right."

"Naruto."

"Hmm."

"Do I look like I'm going to leave you and run away again?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto became rigid. Ever since that night that Naruto had reacted so seriously to the joke he'd made about running away, Sasuke had been trying to find a way to make it up to him. He wasn't going to leave. He had no reason. Well, Sasuke thought, I guess I could go and try and find Itachi and kill him. But what would be the point now? Look at what had happened when he'd tried that last time. He'd only ended up hurting his friends, and really everyone. Sasuke forced Naruto to look down at him.

"Do I?"

"I don't know, Sasuke. You tell me." Naruto bit out, "You didn't look like you would last time."

Sasuke sighed, "Naruto, I'm not going to leave again. What do I have to do to prove it to you?"

"I don't know…I'm sorry Sasuke, can we just sleep?" Naruto begged. He buried his face against Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke grudgingly nodded. He wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck and pressed his cheek against his hair. So they went to sleep.

**TBC…

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	11. Chapter 11

**A/N!!!: **Alright, this is kinda important to me so pay attention. This was supposed to be the ultra nifty keen 15k word chapter that I was gonna surprise ya all with today. But it ended up being 7k instead. -sadface- So like it anyways. I've been slaving over it for days. I'll prolly start on the next chapter soon. YAY we're 100 reviews now! This is so neato torpedo! Thanks guys.

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**Mad World**

Chapter 11 - Feel Perkier Now?

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Sasuke woke up alone. It was sensation that he had become thoroughly unaccustomed to. After Naruto's younger self had died, and he'd obviously not needed be cared for, there was the predicament of sleeping arrangements. Where would he sleep? Would they both just stay in the same bed they were? Would Naruto move to a different room in the estate? Well. Eventually, Naruto had commented that he didn't want to sleep in the living room. He also didn't want to have to move his 'shit' down the corridor and up the stairs into the first room on the right. That also meant, (he had told Sasuke) that he would have to have the furniture people move something upstairs for him to sleep on. The furniture people hated stairs. So, they'd ultimately come to the decision that continuing to sleep in the same bed wasn't so much a bother. In fact, as time had proven, the cuddling thing wasn't really that bad. It was quite comfortable. Though Naruto had once in a while shakily scooted away from him and said he didn't 'swing that way', to make himself feel more secure in his manhood. Sasuke had rolled his eyes, accepted the excuse and went to sleep. He of course had woken up the next morning in Naruto's arms anyways, but what the heck. Let Naruto think what he wants to think, it makes the whole world a better place.

He was alone. Sasuke glared at the room, specifically at the light that was coming through the heavy Venetian slats. Though the blinds shut out most sunlight, the morning sunshine today was extremely bright. So bright, Sasuke noted, that it illuminated the room with what little swaths were allowed in. The house was quiet. There were no beeping, hacking and slashing sounds from Naruto's video games in the living room. No dull microwave hum, Naruto making ramen. He was definitely not in the house at all. Sasuke turned to glance at the clock. He'd slept in until eleven. Sasuke had slept in later than Naruto. He gingerly lay back down, resting his head on the pillow that he'd shared with Naruto earlier. In a gesture that was foreign to him, Sasuke rolled his face into the pillow and inhaled deeply. Naruto smell. He smirked, chuckling slightly. Each person definitely had their own unique smell. You didn't have to have special dog related jutsu, or a demon fox living inside you to be able to know that. Everyone could tell their smell was theirs, and then everyone else smelled different, unique. Naruto's smell appealed to him. He supposed that was how they were designed as a species. The smell of their mates, and pack members usually were attractive to them. Sasuke decided that it was comforting.

Pausing, his ears twitching at each tiny shift in the environment Sasuke waited. He was always worried someone would disturb his moments of solitude, of aloneness that he truly valued. No one. He was fine. Sasuke slid his forearms underneath the pillow and curved it around his face where he breathed in and out deeply. He felt a childish laughter thrum inside his throat and he merely let it out, into the pillow. He rolled his face back and forth in the dip he'd created, laughing, until his hair was fairly mussed and his body called for oxygen cooler in temperature. Sasuke turned his head to the side and sighed. In that way that is so startling, and yet so refreshing, he breathed in colder air. Then he paused again. He should probably get up. As Sasuke propped himself up on one hand he noticed a piece of paper on his nightstand. A messy scrawl adorned it, one that had taken him several weeks to learn how to read. He snatched it off of the nightstand and read it.

_Hey Avenger,_

Sasuke snorted at that, smirking.

_I can't believe you slept through that. __Me getting up, getting dressed, showering, playing video games, AND eating.__ I don't know what made you sleep so well, but I'll let you enjoy it. _

Sasuke realized he didn't know either. He'd just kept sleeping. They hadn't even really gone to bed too late. He hadn't woken up in the night, as he was often prone to. He'd just…slept, until eleven in the morning. Sasuke also noted that Naruto had done him a courtesy in allowing him to continue sleeping. This was unusually kind and thoughtful of the brash fox boy. If Naruto was awake, then so would Sasuke be. That was his everyday logic. Sasuke had gotten used to it. So, unexpected gestures of kindness like this were quite the pleasant surprise.

_Sakura is apparently dating some guy…__yes,__ our little Sakura is all grown up._

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sakura acted like a frustrating older sister who nagged and scolded constantly. To use the words 'our' and 'little' to describe her would have probably frustrated her to no end.

_So, I'm going to go meet him today and investigate. Then, I'm getting the vibe she wants to bring him over to our place for dinner tonight. But I'll see how long I can postpone it, for your sake?_

A murmur fluttered through his chest, a glitch, a moment his heart must have stopped. 'Our place', he had written. Unlike any note he'd written before, where it had been 'the house', 'the estate', sometimes 'your place'. But never before had it been 'our place', Sasuke hadn't an idea how to react to that statement so he let it go. Instead he focused on the thought of Sakura having a boyfriend. One that wasn't him, and obviously wasn't someone they knew. If it was someone they knew, Naruto would have said so, because Sakura probably would have told him before hand. But any of the ninja their age that Sasuke knew, were already attached. Some were married, or engaged. Some were moved in together. Sakura also may have wanted it to be a surprise as well. Sasuke was not overjoyed at the prospect of having Sakura and her potential mate over for dinner. Naruto had obviously predicted that that would be the case and said he would try and put it off as long as possible. Sasuke would have to thank him later for that foresight.

_Anyways, who knows how long it'll __take to __persuade Sakura to not bring him over. I'll threaten him, interrogate, all the stuff we should be doing as her brothers, right? Also, I think we're __outta__ apples, and I know you're addicted to them. I'll see if I can get more at the market on the way home tonight. If there's anything else, you might need to get it yourself in town. I don't know when exactly I'll get home._

_Be home later,_

_Naruto_

Sasuke set the note down on the nightstand. His gaze focused on the blankets pooled around his waist. His knees were bent with the bottoms of his feet touching so his legs formed a diamond. _Home_. Naruto had said the word twice when referencing the estate. He also noticed that they were out of apples, and that Sasuke seemed to like them. He was getting more of them, because Sasuke liked them. Small things, but yet at the same time they were _huge_ things. Sasuke rested his hands on his knees and stared more at the blankets. He could feel his hair standing up in a cowlick. Fretfully he tried to smooth it down. It didn't smooth. It rebuked the action and stuck out in a completely different direction than before. It wasn't any more attractive than it was a moment ago, he knew it. Slowly he straightened his legs and slid them out from under the blankets. He touched his bare feet to the cool unrelenting wood floor. He felt for a moment, like crawling under the covers again and begging for sleep to return to him. Instead, Sasuke moved dreamlike towards the door where he slipped into the hall and stopped again. The doorknob was in his hand, held behind his back childishly holding the door a bit open. He pulled it closed. Then, he dropped his hand away from the handle and looked up and down the hall.

Motes of dust flew through the air, shown only by the light that filtered through the kitchen window. Their bedroom door was only a few paces (to the right) away from the entryway that led into the kitchen. A stream of sunshine flowed through it, landing on the opposite wall in a box window pattern. Squares of yellow on dusty brown wood walls and floor. Then, farther down the hall was the other entry way that opened up into the living room. _Naruto's cavern_, Sasuke thought jokingly. Next to that archway was the front door, their metal coat hooks bolted to the wall, and their pile of shoes. Opposite the living room was the door that concealed the long dining hall from view.

Sasuke turned his head and stared down the rest of the corridor, to the left. Just a few feet to his left, on the same wall as the bedroom door was the door to the bathroom they shared. On the other wall, facing the bathroom was the door to the office where all the books were kept. Then, as Naruto had complained, at the end of the hall there were the stairs that led to the second floor. It was sort of eerie on the second floor as none of the rooms were furnished. After the main rooms that were used, (all that Sasuke had just surveyed) were filled with furniture Sasuke had told the mover people to just let be and bring no more to the house. He wasn't planning on using any other rooms.

Quite gracelessly Sasuke slumped into the kitchen. He moved out of the way of the light. Shuffling over to the fridge he opened the bottom door and hunched over behind it, hiding from the sunshine. Sasuke gave the side of the old weary machine a 'love pat' (as Naruto was so fond of calling them) to cease the creaking and groaning that had started to emanate from its depths. He'd consulted Naruto about replacing the thing but they were still undecided. Sometimes it refrigerated, sometimes it didn't. For the most part when you opened it you had one of three options: the door could loosen and slide out of one of its hinges slightly, the creaking and groaning of the motor would start, or there would be an unexpected blast of extremely cold air that would last only a nanosecond. The first problem was solved with an easily learned jolt of the door from a firm grip on the bottom of the door handle. Sort of like popping a dislocated joint back into place. The second resulted in a 'love pat', where Sasuke would simply pound the side of the thing with his fists until it stopped making noise. The third couldn't be fixed or prevented and happened quite rarely. But, the fact of the matter was, the damn thing was nearing on twenty years of age. Granted, the tired old machine lasting that long was truly amazing. However, Sasuke wanted it to last forever, without him having to maintain it. It was a lazy, sad want, but he had it all the same.

As punishment for lingering behind the door staring at its contents to hide from the light, Sasuke was hit with option number three. Shivering uncontrollably Sasuke sighed in defeat and slammed the door closed. The fridge groaned at him but promptly stopped as soon as Sasuke raised a fist. He stared at it and padded off towards the bread bin. There was a lonesome looking crust from some decent wheat bread they'd gotten a few days ago. Sasuke yanked it out of the bin and chewed at it absently. He leaned against the counter and stared at the dishes in the sink. He should probably do them. It _was_ his turn after all. But usually if Sasuke was in the right mood, he could wait long enough and wheedle Naruto into doing them. He'd learned this trick fairly quickly. But now he popped the last bit of crust into his mouth and set about doing his chore. He could also go and clean up the living room, and sweep the kitchen. Glancing briefly at the floor in the kitchen he noticed a grime spot near the bottom of the fridge. He'd have to mop too. Sasuke started making a list in his head:

_Buy bread._

_Sweep/mop kitchen floor_

_Clean living room._

_Dust dining hall._

_Make bed (maybe change sheets)_

_Clean bathroom_

_Go into town and _think_ about buying a new fridge._

_What else?_ Sasuke thought. _Oh._

_Get some more leeks, running out._

Sasuke set about his tasks, eventually writing them down on paper and crossing them off as he went. He had to do _something_ to keep himself occupied while Naruto was out interrogating this boyfriend of Sakura's. He'd read many of the books brought into the office. He did not feel compelled at all to play any of Naruto's video games. Though he'd idly considered popping in a movie there were too many things to do around the house. He should get them done while the house was Naruto-free. When the house was not Naruto-free, it made it a lot more difficult to do chores. So he would finish them up now, while he was gone. That way, just in case Naruto did bring home Sakura and her 'boyfriend', the house would be ready for guests. Maybe they'd use the dining hall. Sasuke smirked.

He swept and mopped and dusted. After he'd been cleaning for a few hours his lungs felt slightly heavy. His body was telling him that he'd inhaled too much dust. Far too much. Sasuke scowled as he shuffled around the living room picking things up. He rearranged the pillows onto the couch after plucking them dispassionately from the floor. The video game console Naruto had used last was still on the floor in plain sight, wires all askew. Sasuke kneeled down and unplugged everything, putting the console and its cables away and the games onto the shelf nearby. Then he swept, again, whilst pausing to dust every few feet.

Eventually Sasuke had finished all of the cleaning related chores and ventured back to his bedroom to change. He pulled open the dresser drawers and stared disbelievingly at the contents. Where were his day clothes? Sasuke looked through all of the drawers. His pajamas were there. Naruto's clothes were there. But Sasuke's were not. He thought desperately on the clothes he'd gotten back from the dry cleaners the other day. He was sure that he'd gotten back all of their laundry…Sasuke growled. If those people had managed to lose _all_ of his clothes somehow, Sasuke had no idea what he was going to do. There was no possible way he could replace all of the sound garb he'd accumulated over the years he'd spent with Orochimaru. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if Naruto himself had thrown it all away. He certainly despised seeing him dressed that way. Orochimaru was dead, and for the past two years Sasuke had only been with him because he was under a controlling jutsu. Still Naruto saw Sasuke's continual wearing of the sound clothing as somehow traitorous. Sasuke thought this was childish and silly, as the clothes were merely quite comfortable for him. Much like Naruto's ridiculous footy pajamas was comfortable to him. Sasuke reluctantly opened their pants drawer again and stared down at Naruto's jeans. He went through them checking the sizes to see if any of them might fit him.

Alas, Sasuke grabbed a pair and pulled them on. They were loose around his waist, and he had to put a belt on with it, but he finally got them to stay up. Then he picked out a t shirt void of graphics anywhere on it and tugged it over his head and snaked his arms through the sleeves. After finding that he still did have his shoes (Naruto hadn't thrown them away), Sasuke put them on and headed into town. He went into the grocery store to get some bread, and some more leeks. He was also debating on whether or not to head to the electronics store and find a replacement refrigerator. It was as he was walking out of the grocery store, produce in hand that Sasuke stopped, rooted to the spot. Naruto was walking along the street with Sakura…and Itachi.

Sakura was holding Itachi's hand and casually bumping their shoulders together. Naruto seemed nervous and puzzled about something. Sasuke merely stood there. For a moment he thought that he'd dropped his bag. When he could force air into his lungs he found that he still had managed to keep a grip on his bag, leeks and bread had not spilled out onto the ground. Maybe they didn't see him, or notice him, or could tell who he was when he was dressed in Naruto's clothes. Maybe. But either way, the three jovially walked past him and Sasuke watched them go. They didn't stop, and then in comical fashion walk backwards until they were standing next to Sasuke staring at him. That didn't happen either. So Sasuke did what any self-respecting terrified man would do, he ran all the way home with his grocery bag swinging obnoxiously at his side. He ran through the hall to the kitchen where he hectically started putting things away. He crumpled up the bag and threw it away, pacing around the island counter.

He was okay, he was okay. Everything was okay. Sasuke paced. For a second he considered going back into town, finding his brother and trying to kill him. This sounded like a very good plan to him. However, that wouldn't necessarily work because everyone would then pounce on the both of them and have them executed. Itachi would be taken, obviously, for infiltrating Konoha and living there in disguise as a bingo book criminal. Naruto and Sakura clearly didn't recognize him, if they did they wouldn't be talking amiably with him as if he was a good friend. Well, Naruto did look troubled so maybe he was starting to figure it out. The cogs in his slow, dense brain were turning. He was putting the pieces together, and then surely his best friend would not fail him. Naruto would try and kill Itachi or die trying. Frankly, Sasuke realized he didn't like either option. Sasuke was the avenger, the crazy one who's entire family Itachi had killed. It was his _right_ to kill him. If Naruto killed him Sasuke didn't know what he would do. He would certainly never forgive Naruto for it. Well, and the other option, Naruto dying while trying to kill Itachi didn't look good either. So Sasuke was left with the terrifying predicament of what exactly he should do. He _had_ to tell Tsunade. That was a place to start.

Sasuke went back out, hurrying through town towards the Hokage's office. His manners leaving him entirely he nearly knocked over several different people and didn't apologize. Not now, his nerves were too frazzled. He tromped through the front doors and up the stairs. His footsteps smacking against the cement stairs echoed back at him. One hand on the cool metal banister ignored the bumps every few steps where the metal would jut out and catch his hand painfully. He would surely have a bruise there soon. Sasuke sped into a sprint down the curving hall, going past numerous doors. He knew which one he was looking for, but there were just so many doors. It was exasperating. When he finally came to the right one he burst through without knocking. Tsunade glanced up at him primly, giving him the evil eye for charging in unannounced.

"Tsunade-sama, m-my…um, Itachi is here, in Konoha." The Hokage's reaction was that of shock, but not to the magnitude that Sasuke had expected, "He's with Naruto and Sakura, and I don't think either of them know who he is. He's disguised wearing civilian clothes. I just saw him, probably half an hour ago, maybe longer outside the grocery store. And-"

"Sasuke!"

"What?!" He exclaimed rudely.

"I know he's here." Tsunade told him, "He's been here for two weeks."

Sasuke stared at the Hokage in confusion. He'd been here for two weeks, she knew, and he…wasn't dead? Was he blackmailing her? The Hokage had been corrupted; she could no longer be trusted! Sasuke cursed himself for not at least bringing a kurenai with him. Oh well, he didn't need one. He could take her. Tsunade seemed to sense his thought pattern, and she began to explain. Itachi had come home with Sakura from her mission two weeks ago. Sakura had been sent to infiltrate Akatsuki and find out more about the organization. She would become a member, gain their trust, and then send information to Konoha and request back up when the time was right. Instead she grew close to Itachi and together they took down the other members by themselves. They had the rings of the members to prove it.

"I don't _care_ if he killed off Akatsuki, he shouldn't be allowed in here! Let me kill him!" Sasuke shouted.

"Sasuke-"

"Oh, maybe you forgot why I ran away in the first place. It wasn't because I turned _evil_ I wanted to gain enough power to kill the man, my brother, who wiped out my entire clan except for me! Now he's here, and because he killed off some criminal group you're just letting him walk around free?!"

"Sasuke!" Tsunade yelled. Sasuke fell silent, glaring at her. "Itachi _didn't_ kill your clan. That's why he's still alive."

"Don't you dare talk about what you don't know, old woman! I was there-"

"Under a genjutsu created by your brother!"

Sasuke barely listened to the story that Itachi had won over Tsunade with, and Naruto, and Sakura apparently. This 'story' was quite convenient. It made Itachi seem like quite he good guy. Oh, he didn't join Akatsuki of his own will, they forced him. He begged them to spare Sasuke, his _baby_ brother. Whatever would he have done if they'd killed Sasuke too? Oh noooo. Sasuke went home, despite Tsunade's adamant requests to stay with her. He didn't need her pity, or her concern, stupid old woman. _Fuck her_, he thought, _let her believe Itachi if she wants. I sure as hell won't._

What did he do? He went home, squirreled away in the office and brooded. He was thinking of all the various ways that he could interrogate Naruto. When dinner time rolled around the front door opened, and not one but three voices came in. Sasuke reached for his sword which was propped up against one of the bookshelves next to him. He gripped it firmly in his hand, watching the office door. Naruto was calling for him. Sasuke didn't answer, shrinking further into the corner where he was sitting. The office door opened and Sasuke could see Naruto's feet on the floor. He was wearing his froggy footies today. He padded around the room calling for him. Naruto came upon him and stared at him worriedly. Whereas Tsunade's concern enraged him, Naruto's made him feel like actually talking. He shook his head, no, he couldn't be like that. He needed to warn Naruto that Itachi's story was probably fiction, and that they needed to do something right away.

"Sasuke, Tsunade summoned us to her office just an hour or so ago. I know you know that Itachi's here." Naruto laughed, "But I could have guessed anyways by the way you're curled up in here with your sword like that."

"He's lying to you Naruto, he's trying to find a way to earn your trust like Sakura tried to earn Akatsuki's. He's only going to stab you in the back. We need to kill him _now_." Sasuke whispered, though he knew that Itachi probably could hear him anyways.

"Sasuke, no, you don't understand. He isn't lying, he brought the official mission notice to two of the other members of Akatsuki detailing that they were supposed to kill off the entire clan and leave no survivors. Do whatever it took to force Itachi to join them."

"He could have forged that!" Sasuke hissed.

"Pain himself, their leader, told Sakura about the mission. About how she should keep an eye on Itachi, that he might revolt against them and manipulate her into joining him."

Sasuke shook his head. "No! It was a ruse, everyone was in on it. Sakura was the one being fooled."

"If that was the case, than why did Itachi kill all of the members, consistently protecting Sakura as they went?"

"It's a lie! It's a lie!" Sasuke gripped his sword fiercely in his hand, staring at Naruto crazily, "They all survived, we just haven't found them yet!"

"Sasuke!" Naruto grabbed him by the wrists and forced Sasuke to look at him, "They didn't survive. It isn't a lie. It's the truth."

"No!" Sasuke's eyes gazed into Naruto's determined blue ones he feebly whimpered, "No…"

He felt like that little boy watching his older brother kill their parents. He was back there. Pressed into a corner with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Sasuke went limp in Naruto's hold, dropping his sword. It fell to the floor with a clatter. Naruto drew him further into his arms, and Sasuke collapsed against him. Gasping with his mouth so wide he looked like he was yawning, that's how Kakashi had described it to him, the last time they talked. Naruto rubbed his back up and down like he was performing some odd version of the Heimlich. Not soothing in the slightest, yet somehow it got the job done. He calmed down, and his breathing returned to normal.

"Sasuke, he just wants to talk to you. You can hate him all you want and have nothing to do with him, just hear him out." Naruto whispered in a completely reasonable tone of voice. Sasuke hated him.

With a murmured 'C'mon', Naruto had him herded into the kitchen where Sakura and Itachi were waiting. The fridge had started its groaning again, and Sakura was pounding the side of it, Itachi watching on in amusement. Sasuke shuffled over and took over the task from Sakura, silencing the beast with one deft punch to the side. It sputtered and quivered for a moment, but then became still. The silence it left was awkward. Itachi sat at the kitchen table. He was eyeing Sasuke like he was some frightened colt prepared to bolt at any second. Sasuke realized that maybe he was. Any wrong move by his brother and Sasuke knew for sure that he would be back in the office in a flash.

"Sasuke, please let me explain why I'm here."

Sasuke snorted derisively though his tone was nervous, "Do I have a choice?"

"Not really, I suppose."

Sasuke grumbled and shifted awkwardly. He removed the kitchen towels from the wide bar handle of the oven and unfolded them and refolded them. Since he didn't have a choice, Itachi talked. Sasuke listened. He wiped down the counter as he listened to keep his energy focused on something other than tackling his brother to the floor and punching him square on the jaw. _I wanted to protect you_, Sasuke thought snottily, _I made you think I killed them so you'd grow up to be strong. I see that you have._ What a load of bullshit. Sasuke had trouble not growling. He was sure it showed on his face and he was fighting to wipe any sort of threat out of his expression. The cherry on top of the cake was Itachi's next words. Sasuke nearly laughed.

"I knew if you were on a mission to avenge our clan, you would defeat every obstacle in your path until you were the strongest. You would find me, and kill anyone that got in your way." Itachi chuckled at this too, "If I simply let you see Akatsuki killing our clan and taking me away. You would have grown up weak and sniveling and pathetic."

"Anger drives you towards power, misery and regret makes you low, makes you want to give up. I can't have the only one who could save me giving up, now could I?"

Logic. It always came down to it. In fact, everything he said made perfect sense. Sasuke glared at his brother, with more hatred, and anger, than he ever had towards anyone. He wouldn't kill him. But, did Itachi really expect him to come running into his arms sobbing and professing brotherly love? Sasuke stared bitterly down at the island counter. He'd been wiping it with the same rag ever since Itachi started talking. The surface was shining so brightly now that it almost blocked out Sasuke's reflection. They were all staring at him, waiting for his answer. What would become of him now? Sasuke didn't spare Itachi a look, instead he turned to Sakura.

"Please," Sasuke whispered hoarsely, "take him away."

Sakura nodded, she sent a meaningful glance at Naruto before moving around the counter and leading Itachi away. Sasuke noticed that Itachi did not fight to get any 'last words' out. He accepted Sasuke's choice, and left. Naruto stood at the edge of the island counter.

"I'll start on this counter." Naruto told him.

"Yeah."

Naruto took one of the other rags out of the sink and began too, wiping down the already spotless counters. Sasuke continued on the island, staring down at the glossy tiles. Smooth, unblemished, shining up at him. Naruto didn't utter a word, instead he moved about the kitchen, cleaning as though the room needed to be cleaned. After he'd spent fifteen minutes on the counters he went and grabbed the broom. He began to sweep away imaginary dust bunnies. Then he mopped away invisible grime spots. He scrubbed viciously at the sink and dusted the kitchen table. Sasuke slowly dropped his own rag into the sink.

"Let's go get a new fridge." Sasuke sighed.

"Yeah. I think the repair shop has some new ones in stock, that one by the post office. Should still be open."

"Okay."

Sasuke strode out of the kitchen and towards the front door. Naruto followed him gently, turning off the lights as he went. He opened the door for him, and Sasuke stepped out, Naruto closing and locking the door behind them. Then at eight in the evening, they walked to the repair store. In a comforting, understanding silence, Naruto looked at new refrigerators with Sasuke until the store closed.

* * *

Naruto lay on the couch now, reflecting on the mistake he'd just made. He'd been sitting patiently on the edge, waiting for Sasuke to come to bed. Naruto wanted to make sure that they were laying down, Sasuke in his arms, before he allowed himself to sleep. He didn't want Sasuke running off somewhere and hurting himself or getting into trouble. Instead of crawling under the covers, Sasuke had stiffly stepped in front of him. He had put his hands on Naruto's shoulders and pushed him back onto the bed. Then, straddling him, Sasuke had gone down on him, crashing their lips together in clumsy kisses. It was awkward, and breathy. Not at all the steamy romantic encounter that so many romance novels portrayed. If anything, it seemed like an attack, like Sasuke was trying to hurt him. He was angry. Sasuke had run his hands teasingly over Naruto's chest while they kissed, but had also scratched him with his stubby nails. Naruto, during all of this had no idea what he should do. If he shoved Sasuke away, it would seem like he didn't want him. That wasn't true, he did, sort of. This was just weird, and wholly unexpected. Naruto should be understandably confused. But then, Sasuke started saying things that Naruto couldn't well ignore.

"See, now you and Sakura can brag about how you've both fucked the only Uchihas left. Too bad for Sakura that she didn't get me in the end, but oh well." Sasuke had proclaimed, his voice wet but no tears to be seen. "You two can have a matching set, and show us off around town!"

"Sasuke." Naruto had grabbed Sasuke's wrists and gently pulled his hands off of his chest.

"Oh no, maybe I'm not good enough. Since you both seem to like Itachi so much, why don't you make _him_ your bitch and you can have a threesome!" At that point his voice had become beyond hysterical.

"Sasuke, stop!"

_That had been the mistake_. Naruto thought as he rested his head against the arm of the couch. Yelling had been the mistake. Then Sasuke had stared at him hatefully, clambering off of him. He'd stood on the opposite side of the bed, holding himself. _Get out!_ He had cried. Naruto had done so. Now, as he listened to the silence drifting from their bedroom, Naruto wondered if he should have stayed and argued with him. _What was I supposed to do?_ Naruto thought. _How was I supposed to handle that?_

He stayed up all night thinking about it. He waited and waited for Sasuke to come out of their room. But when it was close to noon, Naruto went over to the bedroom door and opened it a crack. Sasuke was curled up in the middle of the bed, the blankets covering his whole body, even his head. He was merely a lump under the covers, completely still. Naruto entered cautiously, shutting the door behind him. He waited for a minute or two, expecting Sasuke to tell him to 'get out' again. But he didn't. The silence continued to pervade the room. Naruto tip-toed carefully around the bed to his side; where he gently lifted up the blankets. He crawled in and placed the blankets over his head too. Sasuke was…asleep. Curled into the fetal position, his arms wrapped around himself, he slept. Every few seconds he trembled in his sleep. Other than that, he seemed peaceful enough. Naruto felt creepy simply staring at him like that. So he inched closer until he could wrap his arms around the ball that Sasuke had formed.

Of course, Sasuke would only sleep so peacefully for so long. Eventually he would wake up, and Naruto would have to deal with an angry, probably mortified, violent Sasuke. He wasn't looking forward to it. To be fair, Naruto was a little embarrassed as well. The enjoyable memory of their kisses was weighing on his mind. He certainly couldn't 'forget' that; though it made it slightly awkward to hold Sasuke in his arms now. Naruto had tried to force himself to stay awake. But, after spending the whole night staying awake his body wasn't so inclined. The familiar atmosphere of holding Sasuke, in their bed made him sleepy. So Naruto caved in to the need to sleep.

Naruto woke up alone. His arms were laid out in front of him, grasping nothing but air and bed sheets. He sighed and threw the covers off of him, shivering at the suddenly cold air. Sasuke was no longer in the room with him. _Figures_. Naruto thought meekly. He crawled out of bed and walked out of the bedroom. He'd thought he'd heard movement in the kitchen, but whatever he'd heard stopped at the sound of the bedroom door opening. Naruto shuffled down the hall and into the kitchen. Sasuke was, predictably enough standing in front of the waffle maker working on breakfast. In a skillet on the stove, he was making scrambled eggs and bacon. Naruto noted that he wasn't bothering to do a good job of cleaning up after himself. This usually meant that he would have a bigger mess to clean up afterwards, so he could keep himself busy. Naruto had seen the cycle before. It usually occurred when he and Sasuke fought. But this, this was not just a regular fight. This was something else entirely.

Naruto sat down at the kitchen table. When Sasuke let a plate clatter onto the table in front of him, Naruto ate everything he'd been given. Despite Sasuke's bad mood, the breakfast he made still tasted delicious. Naruto had been going to pick up his plate and put it in the sink but Sasuke halted him.

"Leave it on the table." Order, not request.

He left it on the table. Sasuke ate his own breakfast as if it were a battle. He stabbed everything on his plate with his fork, adding unnecessary force to each jab. Then he would stuff it in his mouth and chew angrily, making sure his enemy's forces met a painful demise. Naruto left the kitchen and stood in the hall deciding what he should do. If he went into the living room and played video games, Sasuke would periodically come in and call him lazy. He would turn off the console right in the middle of a boss fight, or turn off the TV. During certain cut scenes he would turn on the vacuum cleaner to make it impossible for Naruto to hear. But if Naruto went into the office, and tried to read a book Sasuke would laugh and ask him why he was hiding in there like a pussy. The other option, which Naruto had only used _once_ before, was to simply leave the house all together. The last time he'd done that, he had come home to a stressed, angry, and violent Sasuke who threw cast iron skillets at him. During this throwing of cooking implements, Sasuke would rage on about how Naruto treated him like he was some housewife that was too emotional. Naruto of course couldn't fight back; if he did he would only make things worse.

Of course, the first two options were really a way for Sasuke to cool off and get his anger out without killing anyone. It was safe, if not a little frustrating and embarrassing. Naruto, having at least a little bit of a brain, realized that this was a fight he shouldn't try and leave the house from. He needed to choose his actions with care. Naruto had an idea, he wasn't sure if it work, but it was worth a shot. He went back into the kitchen, earning a glare from Sasuke. Naruto strode swiftly across the kitchen until he was standing right next to him.

"Get away from me." Sasuke spat icily.

Naruto spun Sasuke around and threw him against the counter. He gripped his wrists, pressing their bodies together, and Sasuke's back against the edge of the counter. He leaned in close and smirked, "No."

"You can't take me in a fight, Naruto. Don't you make me show you just how much I learned those years I was gone. Is that what you want?"

"Yes."

Sasuke blinked, his glare faltering slightly. This was clearly not the answer he was expecting. Naruto met Sasuke's glare with one of his own and growled, "I want you to kick the living shit out of me, try your hardest. You're pissed, and you don't have anything to take it out on. I'm right here, and perfectly willing."

Naruto let Sasuke go and walked over to the sliding door that led into the courtyard. There was enough room out there for Sasuke to beat him up. Naruto went out into the middle of it and stood there, waiting. He called to Sasuke, 'I'm ready when you are!' Sasuke stared at him blankly, as though he was waiting for Naruto to say he was just joking. But Naruto wasn't joking. In all seriousness he was ready to be beaten to a bloody pulp. This wasn't just a regular fight, or a normal every day problem that Sasuke could get over by making snide comments. Naruto wasn't going to sit through weeks of caustic words and glares, and sleeping on the couch. Sasuke was his…what was he? Roommate? Best friend? Rival? Whatever. Naruto wasn't going to wait around.

In a blink of an eye, Sasuke was out in the courtyard, and taking Naruto up on his offer. Naruto hadn't really prepared himself for the pain. He knew there would be some, a lot of it actually. He'd dealt with pain before, but Sasuke was making sure he was experiencing the full meaning of the word. The fact that Naruto was pretty much standing still, a living punching bag, didn't seem to bother him. By the time Sasuke was done, Naruto was bruised and bloody. Sasuke was still a little grouchy afterwards. But, Sasuke was_ always_ grouchy. So, it seemed he may have gone back to normal a little bit. Though if the way he was talking to Sakura on the phone was any indication, he was still a bit mad. When Sakura came over to tend to his injuries she nearly had a heart attack.

"You did what?!" She'd exclaimed.

Naruto had mumbled around the blood pouring from his mouth, to try and explain the situation. But Sakura merely forced his head over a mixing bowl and told him to try not to talk. In a little over an hour she managed to stop most of the bleeding and heal a lot of his bruises. But he was still pretty sore. She bandaged him up and left, telling him to not do that again anytime soon. Naruto nodded, resting his head weakly on his palm. It was well into the afternoon now, and Naruto was gazing across the table at Sasuke. They were looking at each other in an exhausted manner. Naruto smiled at him, baring his bloodied up teeth. With his black eye he looked abused.

"Feeling perkier now?" Naruto spluttered, blood spattering onto the table.

"Shut up, dobe."

"O'tay."

* * *

Sasuke couldn't believe he'd actually done that. Now, this statement of disbelief could apply to numerous things. One, that he'd jumped Naruto and actually _kissed_ him. Two, he'd said all the things that had actually come to mind. Three, he'd screamed at Naruto like a girl to get out of the room. Four, he'd taken up the offer to beat the stupid fox boy to a blood pulp. The worst of it all was…he actually felt…better. A little better. The shock and anger at his brother for taking away his life's purpose was still in him. He was still filled to the brim with righteous indignation. However, as he stared across the table at Naruto who was smiling a bloody, toothy smile at him, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a little brighter. Something about kicking the shit out of Naruto, who stood there and took it, was extremely good for his anger. Also, the fact that Naruto had come up with the idea and predicted its helpfulness was very nice of him.

Despite all this niceness, Sasuke still couldn't help but feel a mite of awkwardness. He'd actually _kissed_ him. How could he have been so stupid? What was so attractive about him anyways? Naruto caught his stare and grinned again. Sasuke was proud of the job he'd done. His punching bag now sported a black eye, a swollen jaw, blood encrusted nostrils, and several bruises along his arms and stomach. He looked truly terrible. Sasuke felt like kissing him despite his maladies. He knew if he did, Naruto would taste like blood. But what the heck. No. Sasuke inwardly shuddered. Naruto had pushed him away, and told him pointedly to stop. Granted, he was sure he'd looked crazy but…

"Sasukeeee, what's for lunch?"

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. "Ramen."

"Yay!" Blood droplets hit Sasuke in the face.

**TBC…

* * *

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	12. Chapter 12

**A/n:** Lol, broken the 60k word barrier! Woot! So the plot thickens...-laughs maniacally while dodging thrown tomatoes-

**

* * *

Mad World**

Chapter 12 - You Should Have Listened To Papa Fox

* * *

Kyuubi was not having a good time of it. While his container seemed content with letting this dark furred potential mate abuse his body, he seemed to be ignorant of something of vital importance. The virus was back, and it was smarter. Running amok it was. Kyuubi had smelled it recently. Somehow, he was sure he'd wiped it out all that time ago, but part of it had escaped. It had left, crawled off to some dark recess of Naruto's mind and grew. It grew, and grew, and now it was ready to make its move. Kyuubi was trying to locate it and fight it off, but he was meeting much resistance. It seemed that the virus had grown in intelligence, and in hiding. It was all a matter of time before it fought its way to the forefront, and took control again. Kyuubi was trying his hardest to make sure that wouldn't happen. But then, then was the day it did.

* * *

The three weeks that followed Sasuke and Itachi's meeting were not pleasant. Shit seemed to be hitting the fan everywhere. Naruto received a letter from Gaara that Lee hadn't been able to maintain his chakra levels properly after discovering he was pregnant. He'd had a miscarriage which left him in the hospital in critical condition. Sasuke was released from probation and assigned missions. Itachi had casually mentioned something about an engagement to Naruto, which of course Naruto mentioned to Sasuke. In the end, Sasuke had gone over to the 'Sakura and Itachi' residence and questioned Sakura about the matter. The simple, elegant silver pearl on a thin white gold band spoke for itself. Sasuke had found a new reason to be in a foul mood. Kakashi was trying to renew his delusion of being the cool perverted ninja, and had taken to spending evenings at the bar with the other bachelors his age. Of course, he'd taken to this habit because Sakura had asked him if he'd walk her down the aisle at her wedding. She'd asked simply because she wanted her dream from her genin days to come true. Granted, the first name of the Uchiha she'd be marrying had changed, but she still wanted Kakashi to give her away. 

Meanwhile Naruto had his own personal troubles that were bothering him. The sharp stabs of pain in his head had returned. They were more powerful than ever, and had him worried. It was getting harder and harder to cover them up when he was around Sasuke. Thankfully, the younger Uchiha was sometimes so vexed he didn't notice much around him. That helped to hide some of Naruto's winces he let slip. But Naruto couldn't depend on Sasuke's ignorance forever. He would notice sooner or later. Naruto had gotten so used to the control. It had been a little over two months, and there had been no sign of his younger self. Kyuubi would have said something. But the fox demon had been pretty quiet during the past few weeks. So Naruto hoped that maybe all the stress of what was going on was simply giving him some migraines. He hid the painkillers he'd gotten from Sakura in his nightstand drawer. If Sasuke found them he'd start asking questions.

For the moment, however, his problems weren't the center of his thoughts. Sasuke lay entangled in his arms, sleeping. They were in bed still, as they should be-it was only eight in the morning-and Naruto was content. Sasuke's lower half was propped up on Naruto's right leg which was bowed out lazily and growing numb. His left arm was tossed over Sasuke's waist, and his shoulders were cradled in Naruto's right arm. It was the beginning of May now, and the summer heat was starting to grow into a sticky swelter. In response, they left the windows wide open nearly all the time. The heavy blankets had been folded and stuffed into the linen closet. Currently the sheets were wrinkled and abandoned, hanging lazily over their feet. The wave of heat the two of them were giving off surely should have been an incentive for them both to be lying on opposite sides of the bed from each other. But Sasuke had wiggled his way into Naruto's arms during the night, and who was Naruto to refuse him? He was just glad that his friend was getting back to normal somewhat.

Ever since that night (Naruto firmly called it that, and it was never mentioned between them), when Sasuke had kissed him, Sasuke had been distant. He'd avoided contact of any kind like the plague. If anything, he seemed much like the younger Sasuke, that Naruto remembered from when they were genin. The casual touches that Naruto had become so accustomed to were gone. The worst was when they went to bed at night. Naruto would reach for Sasuke, only to have him scoot to the far side of the bed. He would shrug off any attempts Naruto made to take him into his arms. Sometimes, if he was particularly desperate to get away he would throw a pillow on the floor and sleep on the cool wood. He used the excuse that it was heading into summer and that it was cooler on the floor where the heat had risen away. A logical excuse yet at the same time complete and utter bullshit.

Naruto himself was still wondering about _that night_. He'd…enjoyed it. Somewhat. He couldn't remember. All he remembered from _that night_ was the choked back sobs, the terrible things said, pushing Sasuke away, the awkwardness. But most of all, he remembered it as a mistake. It was wrong, he shouldn't have done it. But still he wasn't sure what his mistake was. He wanted to say it was all Sasuke's fault. But technically it wasn't, he'd just found out that his whole life's ambition was based on a lie. His brother he'd grown up believing to be truly evil, and made most of his life's biggest mistakes because of, turned out to be a relatively good guy. His worst flaw was that he was tragically repressed (though on the surface he appeared politely subdued), consistently sleepy and in result quite grouchy at times. Naruto's memories of _that night_ were fuzzy. He grasped at them, wishing he could recall more details. The kiss itself was blurry. There had been scratching, and slobber, and a general sense of panic and fretfulness. It had not been happy.

Calling up a memory of a kiss was a surprisingly difficult thing to do. Naruto found that the sensation was not clear in his mind's eye. It was dull, faded, and colorless. No sensation was left over for him to cling to. As a guy who thought he was completely straight, it was probably harder for him to hold onto a memory of kissing another man than it might be for someone who swung that way. In fact, the only reason that he wasn't awkward about holding Sasuke in his arms, as he was at that moment, was simply conditioning. He'd grown used to it. _BEEP_. The alarm went off. Naruto rolled over slightly to punch the infernal thing into submission. But the deed was done. Sasuke was awake. Naruto's breath hitched in his throat. Sasuke was awake. This was the first time in the past few weeks that Sasuke had woken up in Naruto's arms.

"Mm, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"I've gotta leave for a mission today that'll keep me away for like three days minimum," Sasuke paused to yawn, "and it's trash night. I think it's recycling week too, so make sure the cans get taken down to the curb."

"Okay."

Naruto blinked. That was _not_ what he was expecting. Sasuke slipped free from his hold and slinked out of the room. A few moments later and the shower turned on. Naruto flopped onto his back, stretching his arms and legs, arching his back slightly to get out the kinks. When he felt more than heard his back crack, he was satisfied. He fell limply back onto the bed and stared at the slightly open door. A few minutes later the water turned off, and Naruto could hear Sasuke stepping out of the shower and moving around in the bathroom. Soon enough Sasuke shuffled into their room, a damp towel held weakly around his waist like an afterthought. Facing the dresser he let the towel drop to the floor. Naruto remembered how when he first arrived at the estate he'd made immature comments about seeing Sasuke naked. The ultimate show of homophobia, he'd been it during that time. Now, however he was merely happy that Sasuke was comfortable around him again. Those awkward weeks had been nearly excruciating. Finally, here they were back to normal.

He watched Sasuke rifle through his clothes, trying to find some that would fit him. Both of them being the lazy asses that they were neither of them had tried to go clothes shopping to replace the wardrobe that Sasuke lost. Since Naruto usually only wore his footy pajamas anyways, Sasuke hadn't seen the harm in using the normal clothes of Naruto's sitting idly in the drawer. It was just another excuse used to postpone the inevitable. Eventually Sakura would find out that Sasuke had lost all his clothes, and try and take him shopping. Sasuke was avoiding it at all costs. Feeling ambitious, Naruto let out an appreciative whistle. Sasuke stiffened. Oh shit. Naruto hoped he hadn't just destroyed all the progress he'd made to get Sasuke to come around.

"Naruto, I have to deal with that every time I go into town. Do you think you could grant me some peace in my own home?" Sasuke growled with his usual Uchiha venom.

Naruto grinned, "Eh, if you want."

"Thank you."

Naruto grimaced; he'd just gotten another migraine. This one was so strong that, _OW!_ That one really hurt. Sasuke whirled around, and Naruto realized he'd said his thoughts aloud. To boot he was clutching his head in agony. Sasuke was by his side in an instant. He crawled nervously into Naruto's lap and wrapped his arms around him. Sure enough, the pain subsided and decreased to a minor ache. Naruto sighed in relief and relaxed against Sasuke.

"How long have the pains been back, dobe?" Sasuke questioned.

"They aren't back. They're migraines." Naruto retorted.

"Yeah right."

"They are!" Naruto said again, "It's completely normal to have migraines, especially if you've been under a lot of stress lately!"

"_You're_ under stress?! _You're_ under stress?!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Naruto realized the idiocy of what he'd just said. Sasuke leapt away from him and paced the length of the room growling this, and that. However, the seriousness of his anger was slightly tainted as he was pacing about stark naked. The more Sasuke yelled and continued his tirade, Naruto found the more painful his migraine was getting. He fumbled weakly for the drawer in his nightstand. Where did the handle go? Why did it keep moving around? Finally grasping it he dug around for the painkillers he had hidden there. He found the bottle but upon turning it bottoms up over his hand, no pills came out. He'd really taken all of them already? Naruto curled up on the bed, trying his hardest to stay in control. But by the time he could feel himself giving in Sasuke was next to him again.

"Alright, calm down." Naruto snorted, Sasuke the angry one was telling _him_ to calm down. "I'll call Tsunade and tell her I can't go on the mission today."

"No, I'm fine, really. Go on your mission. I know you've been looking forward to this one." Naruto bit out.

"Sure, you're fine. Just wait, when I leave you'll go back to your younger self and all of this work will have been for nothing."

"Sasuke, younger me is dead. Kyuubi killed him. If he came back, Kyuubi would have said something. He hasn't. I don't think there's anything to worry about." Sasuke glared at him incredulously and Naruto added, "Now get off me and go put on some pants."

Sasuke scowled, though there was a flash of uncertainty and hurt. Naruto wasn't proud of the added comment, but if he had to piss Sasuke off to get him to leave, then that was the route he was going to take. Younger him _wasn't_ back. Naruto knew he wasn't. These were just migraines. Everything was fine. Everything would be fine. Would stay fine. Would always be fine. Naruto watched as Sasuke dressed himself and left without saying a word. He would probably brood and seethe silently among his teammates, and during the mission he would be as violent as possible getting out all the anger he would not express to his team. Then, he would come home a little grouchy and very tired. But he wouldn't be nearly as furious as when he'd left originally. This was something that made Naruto appreciate Sasuke working again. When Sasuke worked, he had a way to vent his frustrations.

With his pain subsided, Naruto felt very weary, despite just having woken up a little while ago. He snuggled back into the sheets, and closed his eyes. Naruto drifted through that foggy sense of near sleep, and near wakefulness, but only for a while before he fell completely under. Then, he was at Kyuubi's gate. He was rather happy to be there, for he hadn't had a chance to talk to the fox in several weeks. But before he could do so, a childish laugh caught his ears. Naruto spun around, glancing everywhere for a sign of the source. At the end of the long corridor where the gate was located, just around the corner was younger him, and he was laughing at him. Naruto growled. He leapt in the direction of the taunting laugh. But Kyuubi burst forth through the gates and growled warningly.

"No, Kit, don't follow him!" Kyuubi advised in his gravelly voice, "You are safe from him here, under my protection. If you follow him further from me, he can consume you, and keep you under his control."

Again the giggle echoed off the smooth brick walls and water. Kyuubi rippled the water, creating small waves in a threatening gesture. But this only made the boy at the end of the hall squeal and chortle hysterically. In a sing song voice that was oddly eerie, he teased, 'Is the grown up afraid of playing tag?' Naruto screamed with rage. He charged after the boy, despite Kyuubi's furious howls. Around the corner Naruto ran, sloshing through the ankle deep water. The laughter was the worst part. He ran, and ran, and ran. Naruto had lost track of where exactly they were. Until finally, younger him stopped, and turned around to face him. Naruto ran up to the boy and grabbed him by the collar of his jumpsuit. But younger him smirked, and faded into nothing.

A rumble grew, distant behind him. It roared closer, and closer, until Naruto was almost afraid to look behind him. But he couldn't take the feeling of dread, and so he looked. Tall iron bars rose up from the water, barring him in. Naruto hadn't noticed before that he'd been run into a dead end. Younger him was standing on the other side, making faces at him. He ran towards the bars and grabbed at them, but they shocked him back when he did so.

"No, no, you should have listened to papa fox." Younger him chided in a sing song voice, "You're staying here. I'm going to make sure that Sasuke doesn't leave us ever again."

"He's not leaving us; I don't need you for that! Let me out of here!" Naruto screamed.

"Don't worry, you won't get lonely. Don't you recognize where you are?"

Naruto's eyes widened. He stared around at the walls that surrounded him now. He did recognize them. Adorned with bloody words of anguish, of pain, of self loathing, he knew these walls well. Often, during the years Sasuke was gone, Naruto had visited this place. This was where he kept all his memories of Sasuke being gone, of his failure to save him, of his not being strong enough. He'd come here, only when he was at his lowest, when he'd hit bottom. But he'd never lingered, as so much raw emotional energy and turmoil was too much to bear for too long. Now he was trapped here, for how long Naruto couldn't know. The worst part was that apparitions of Sasuke lived here, in this corner of his mind. He'd put so many memories of him here, so many feelings for him, that a willful, heartless vision of him sometimes lurked into sight. He would torment Naruto into furious tears. No, he would not be lonely, but he would be so very, very sad.

"Don't leave me here, please! I'm begging you, let me out, I'll let you have as much control as you want, just don't leave me _here_!" Naruto crawled pitifully through the water, coming as near to the shocking cage as he dared.

Younger him skipped off through the water, and around a corner. Then, then he was by himself again, until a very familiar voice entered his ears.

"Come back again have you? Are you really _that_ pitiful without me, Naruto-kun?"

* * *

Naruto yawned contentedly. He wiggled about in his bed and then opened his eyes. Blinking up at the unfamiliar ceiling he shrunk into a ball in confusion. He looked about him, wondering where he was. A surge of memories came back to him and he remembered where he'd been last. He'd been in that scary place, with the cushy walls and the uncomfy bed. Sasuke had come to see him! He'd told him everything was okay, and would be okay. If Sasuke had said so then it was probably right. Naruto could trust him. But now, there was no Sasuke in sight, and he had no idea where he was. He looked down at himself and noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. The window was wide open! Naruto blushed and scurried over to close it. Still, even after it was closed he held his arms over his chest in embarrassment. 

This place didn't look at all like where he'd lived before he was taken to the scary place. He shuffled over to the dresser cautiously. Maybe it wasn't his. He was sure it wasn't his. Where was he? Naruto opened the top drawer and saw more pants like the ones he was wearing. He opened the one below it and found some of his normal footy pajamas he wore to bed. Quickly he grabbed those and changed into them. With the zipper brought all the way up to his chin, he felt much more comfortable. So, this dresser _was_ his. He couldn't see why it wouldn't be his; it had his things in it. Naruto was so confused. He had no idea how he'd gotten here, or where here was. But yet his things were here. And why had he been wearing those embarrassing pajamas? He blushed again. Had someone seen him in those? He hoped not.

Naruto tip toed over to the door. He wasn't sure if he should leave the room. He was so used to the strict rules from the nurses and his counselor Miss Martha. Maybe this was like his old room, and he wasn't supposed to leave it except for meal time and activities. _Or, maybe I'm in a different wing! I bet Sasuke yelled__ at__ the nurses for putting me in the scary place!_ Naruto giggled to himself at the thought. Sasuke was horrid scary when he was angry. So scary, that it made Naruto shiver just thinking about it. He probably made the nurses wet their pants they were so scared of him. Then they would just have to put him in a different room, one that was less scary. But this didn't look like any room he'd seen. It was much nicer than his old one. If it was this nice, than there were probably less rules, Naruto mused. It made sense. He settled a hand on the doorknob and pushed the door open. It entered onto a long hall that was unfamiliar to him. Naruto looked around, confused again.

He heard no one moving around, and saw no one. There were no nurses. No counselors on their way to activities. It was very quiet. The silence made him continue to tip toe down the hall way, it was so completely quiet that he felt like he shouldn't make any noise. The first archway he came upon worried Naruto. There was a kitchen, one with a small table in it. It reminded him of the time he'd accidentally wandered into the kitchen off of the cafeteria where the cook ladies worked. They'd yelled at him terribly for it, as he wasn't supposed to be back there. He had felt so bad about it for weeks afterwards. He was in the wrong part of the building! Oh no! Naruto tried not to panic but failed miserably. He ran in the opposite direction of the kitchen and to the end of the hall. There he found some stairs and scampered up them quick. He hurried into the first room on his right. In he went, shutting the door behind him with a bang. There were no footsteps, no shouting coming after him. The cook ladies were probably on their break time. Phew, Naruto was in no hurry to relive that serious scolding again. The room he was in now was completely empty. No windows either. Naruto frowned. This was such a weird wing to be in. Naruto decided that despite the nice room he'd woken up in, that he didn't like it. Not at all.

Eventually, after he'd decided that hiding upstairs was boring, Naruto had returned to the hallway below. He snuck past the kitchen quickly and wandered towards the other archway beyond that which led into the kitchen. This one opened up into a room much like the recreation room Naruto had sometimes been allowed to visit. But this recreation room that Naruto had now found was much different. It had a big TV, and a shelf with lots of movies. There were also lots of different kinds of video games, and systems to play them on. Naruto didn't really know much about video games except for that one time Kiba had brought some on one of his visits a long time ago. The only TV that Naruto had ever really seen was the one that was used for movie night which happened once in a blue moon. It was much smaller than the one he was standing near now. There were a lot of things that Naruto had heard of from the friends that visited him, but had never really experienced. All that he knew of his life was that which he lived in the building with Miss Martha and the other children. He was told he had a life before he woke up in the hospital. But his accident, which he still couldn't remember, caused him to forget his whole life prior. Though Sasuke was helping him with that, and he was remembering more all the while.

He settled down in front of the TV after picking out some movies that were familiar to him. He watched several until he was so hungry he couldn't help but make his way into the kitchen. Naruto felt horrid for sneaking in and stealing some food and he knew the cook ladies would find out when they got back. But for now they were gone, and he could eat something without getting in trouble. By the time it was dark out, Naruto was feeling quite worried. The cook ladies had not once come back to the kitchen. He hadn't seen or heard any counselors at all. Worst of all, Naruto hadn't seen Sasuke. Looking at the clock and knowing it was well past his bedtime he chose to go back to his room and go to sleep. Maybe Sasuke would be back in the morning.

Sasuke was not back in the morning. He wasn't back the next morning, or the next morning. Neither were the nurses, or Miss Martha, or the cook ladies. Naruto was finding himself frightened, and worried. Where was he? Was he still in the building at all?! He sat at the table in the kitchen, munching on an apple he'd found. At least the food in this kitchen was good. Naruto was munching on it late in the afternoon on the fourth day he'd been in this strange new place. A door opened down the hall and Naruto leapt to his feet. He hurried to the entry way and stared down the hall. It was Sasuke! Naruto ran down the hallway and flung himself at the unsuspecting man.

"Sasukeeeee! What's going on? Where am I? Why were you gone? Where are the cook ladies and the nurses?!" Naruto squeaked, scared when Sasuke pushed him off roughly. Not in the way he usually did either.

"Naruto, stop playing dumb and acting like that! Don't you think I'm stressed out enough? This isn't funny!" Sasuke growled.

Naruto's eyes widened and he got that feeling, the one he had when Sasuke was really angry at him. His whole body went cold and he felt like he was going to cry. But some instinct he didn't know forced the tears to stay in his eyes and not to leak out, no matter what. He didn't move, and looked at the floor, worried. Sasuke stomped up to him and grabbed him by the throat, throwing him up against the wall. Naruto stared at the wall behind Sasuke, avoiding looking at his face. He quivered as his body went limp in Sasuke's hold. His breathing was ragged, and painful with the tight grasp that Sasuke had on his neck. Naruto gulped, and with his neck so constricted it was painful, and nauseating.

"Oh…shit. Great, just great!" Sasuke released him, and Naruto fell to the floor where he lay, unmoving. He breathed in and out quickly, trying to regain the oxygen he'd lost. Sasuke stomped off down the hall into Naruto's room. He slammed the door and Naruto started, as if he'd been shocked.

He froze. Naruto lay still, trying his hardest not to cry. He didn't want to move either, in case Sasuke came back and got mad at him for moving. Naruto really liked Sasuke. He really, really did. But sometimes, when Sasuke got angry like this, Naruto was so scared. He knew that Sasuke would be happy again eventually, and that he wouldn't hurt him _too_ bad. So it was okay. It was just how Sasuke was. But, even though Naruto knew all of this, it didn't make him any less scared. It didn't make that funny feeling in his chest go away, the one that made his heart feel like it was going way too fast. The hall was silent again, just as it had been before Sasuke had come back. Now, there were small sounds coming from Sasuke's rooms, angry sounds. He was moving around in there, angry still. Naruto waited. He waited, and waited, and waited. For a long time he laid there on the floor. His legs were growing numb, and his arms were cramping from the awkward position he'd landed on them. But he couldn't move he was too scared.

After a while, Naruto had pressing troubles on his mind. He really, really had to use the bathroom. If he moved, and went to use the bathroom, Sasuke might get mad. If he stayed where he was, pretty soon he wouldn't be able to hold it anymore. If he relieved himself right where he was, on the floor, Sasuke would be even madder. Who knows what he would do then. Choosing to risk it, despite his rapidly thumping heart, Naruto staggered to his feet. He shuffled to the door he'd discovered on day two, to be the bathroom. After he was done, he flushed and went to wash his hands. He soaped up, and turned the taps so that the water would be lukewarm. Then, after thoroughly scrubbing away at his hands, to make them less numb more than anything, he grabbed one of the hand towels and dried them. He carefully folded the towel and hung it back up again. Naruto creaked open the bathroom door and tip toed into the corridor. Any sounds he'd heard from his room before were gone.

Choosing to act braver than he really felt, Naruto went to the door to his room and opened it slowly. He peeked in at Sasuke who was laying spread eagle on the bed staring dispassionately at the ceiling. Naruto took in a deep breath and let it out in a loud whoosh. In he went, gently shutting the door behind him. Sasuke didn't spare him a look; he was too busy glaring at the ceiling. Naruto crawled onto the bed, measuring each movement carefully. At any moment he was sure Sasuke would snap at him. But finally Naruto managed to reach Sasuke's side, where he collapsed and curled up in the curve of his arm. Sasuke didn't move, but Naruto decided that was probably a good thing. If he moved, at this point, it would most likely be to inflict harm. Naruto carefully rested his head on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke…" Naruto whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have gotten mad." The way Sasuke said it was so automatic, insincere and almost robotic. Naruto sighed.

"Sasuke?"

"What?" He snapped harshly. Naruto winced and Sasuke exhaled angrily, "Shit, I'm sorry. What is it?"

"Where are we?"

"My house. The nurses let me take you home with me. You live here now."

"Oh."

This certainly explained everything then. Naruto brightened. He wouldn't get in trouble for going in the kitchen because there were no cook ladies to yell at him. He must have simply fallen asleep before he'd been released. Sasuke likely carried him home while he was sleeping and changed him into some pajamas of his temporarily. Then he'd gone back to the building and gotten Naruto's things and brought them back to his house. Naruto could barely contain his excitement. But he would certainly miss the other kids, and Miss Martha. He had liked all of them a lot. Now, though, there would be no limits on how long Flower girl and Kakashi could visit him! Naruto remembered something troubling though, and felt like he should ask.

"Why were you gone for so long, then?"

"I had work. Sometimes it keeps me away for a long time."

"It's silly grown up stuff isn't it?" Naruto giggled.

"Yes, it's very _silly_ and _grown up_."

Naruto stopped laughing. The way Sasuke said the words was so mean, Naruto hated it. Sasuke drew away from him quickly, getting up off the bed. He strode swiftly from the room, and Naruto panicked but he didn't move. He heard Sasuke tromp down the hall, and then he heard a door open and slam closed. Then it was quiet. Naruto stared at the door, his breathing quickened again. His face was clammy and his voice wet.

"Sasukeee?"

No answer.

"Sasukee-ee-ee?" He shuddered, causing the name to come off his lips in broken sobs.

Naruto fell down on his side, curling into a ball. He lay there, alone, forcing himself to not cry.

* * *

Sasuke stormed down the path leading into town from the estate. He was practically seeing red. He knew that the 'migraines' Naruto was having weren't really just that. They were the pains he got when younger him was trying to get control back. He knew it. No migraines were that painful. That and they went away when Sasuke had sat with him. But still, Naruto had to fight him on it, and then Sasuke left, and when he came back sure enough he was right. Younger Naruto had come back. Now there he was, quivering, frightened, and pathetic. Of course, younger Naruto had done nothing wrong; it was older Naruto with the problem. But Sasuke couldn't kick the crap out of younger Naruto, because that would be beating a little kid. That was wrong. So there was nothing he could do, nothing except try to find a way to cool off. 

He couldn't stay angry forever. Eventually he would have to go back home, and apologize _sincerely_ to younger Naruto. Then he would have to find a way to keep the boy entertained, and taking him out into the village was not an option. Also, he had to find a way to get older Naruto back. On top of that, he had to keep Sakura at bay. She had a habit of dropping in once a week or so to say hi, and to see how Naruto was doing. Rarely, but always at inopportune moments, Kakashi tended to show up as well. Then there was the odd phone call from Tsunade, and sometimes even Iruka. They had spent two months without a lapse, two MONTHS. That was two out of twelve that they needed before Naruto could go back to a normal life. The contract Sasuke had agreed to with the head of the sanatorium clearly stated that if there was any lapse than the year recovery term would be reset. But if he didn't know, then it wouldn't count, and it wouldn't be put down on Naruto's record.

So Sasuke was set and determined to make sure _no one_ found out. He _had_ to get older Naruto back. He had to. Sasuke hadn't realized how important it was having him back after having him back every day 24/7 for two months straight. Because younger Naruto was dead, what was there to worry about? Well apparently he was a lot less dead than they all thought, even Kyuubi. Sasuke kicked a rock in front of him on the path. He sighed. Being angry with younger Naruto would do him no good. As a peace offering Sasuke stopped by the market and got some ice cream which he hurried home with to keep from melting. When younger Naruto saw the ice cream in his hands, and the sincere apology in his expression he brightened considerably. Naruto leaped at him and devoured his ice cream happily with 'yum's and hums of approval.

After that they settled in for a movie which lasted an hour or so. But by the time it was over, it was nearing eight in the evening. Not at all late for older Naruto, but nearing bedtime for the younger. Sasuke smirked knowingly, and led the sleepy one to bed and tucked him in. Naruto cooed happily and snuggled into the bed. Sasuke glanced at the clock and the soon to be setting sun outside and thought _'what the heck'_. He got dressed for bed, and crawled in next to Naruto. The younger one squealed in that cute, childish way he was prone to and wriggled his way into Sasuke's arms. Sasuke sighed, reluctantly wrapping his arms around younger Naruto. He hoped desperately that he would wake up to older Naruto. He would tell Sasuke that the infection had come back but Kyuubi had destroyed it for good this time. Everything would be okay again. It would be a fluke, and they would get past it. Sasuke reassured himself with these hopes, and allowed himself some peace of mind. He smiled, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Older Naruto, meanwhile, was stuck in his prison. The Sasuke vision had left him alone only a few minutes ago. Naruto had sighed in relief at the peace. He was sitting in the water now, no longer caring that it was getting him wet. He stared at the small waves churning about at his waist. They were surely more than five inches or so deep. Almost a foot. A person could drown themselves in _two_ inches of water if they were either very determined or quite unfortunate. Naruto had more than enough to drown himself in. What would happen if he drowned himself in his own mind? Would younger him win? Would he never go back to his old self, leaving Sasuke to suffer forever with this younger parody of himself? This was how bad it was in this part of his mind. This cage where he was continually haunted by the Sasuke he couldn't save. His worst memories were being thrown in his face, and occasionally younger Naruto came to visit him, taunting him more and more. 

The water had turned into a foul smelling retched concoction not too long after younger him had left him alone the first time. A dreadful mist had leaked in and hung about him, giving the fake Sasuke plenty of space to hide in and spring out from. The mist acted as a strange, stuffy rain. Occasionally it would clear enough for Naruto to see the bloody brick wall where droplets of the mist had accumulated there. The heat was growing into an inferno, and Naruto hastily shed his jumpsuit. It floated away in the water until it was beyond Naruto's range of sight. He frankly didn't care anymore.

"Hey!"

Naruto sighed, dutifully ignoring his younger self. He was going to ignore his jeers and pleas for attention. He wasn't going to let the brat make him suffer.

"Listen to me, you! I control you!"

Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.

"Don't you want to see how Sasuke's doing without _you_?"

Deep-wait, what? Naruto felt like a different person. Surely that wasn't him crawling eagerly to the edge of his cage. Oh, but it was. Younger him smirked, standing just outside the bars. He conjured a static blue circle of lightning and widened it between his hands. As the circle grew, a picture fizzed into focus inside its ring. The picture that it showed was of Sasuke, bringing him ice cream. Together they watched a movie. Then, they crawled into bed, and Sasuke held him, falling asleep with a smile on his face. Naruto growled, trying to throw a punch through the narrow gap in the bars to hit the picture. But the electricity protecting his cage shocked him, throwing him back several feet. He splashed in the water like a smooth skipping stone. Naruto howled at the pain, thrashing in the water less from his pain and more from his rage. Younger him appeared before him, wearing that blasted look of pure smugness. Naruto _hated_ it. In a moment of luck, he reached forward, grabbed his younger self by the throat and pushing his face into the water. Younger him writhed and strained against his hand, trying to get away. But as the water filled his lungs he grew limper. Naruto saw the bars of his cage weaken and disappear. He leaped at the chance, and let go of his captor. He ran past where the bars once were, he ran and ran and ran away from that terrible place. Naruto could tell, he knew that his younger self was regaining his strength and would soon be after him. But Naruto had a head start, and he knew it would take his younger self a while to be able to conjure another cage that powerful.

Naruto followed the winding halls, dashing through the water. Was it just him or did the water seem deeper than it had been before? He wasn't sure. He wasn't really sure of anything anymore. Naruto pushed himself, he was getting tired. But he couldn't stop. Not yet. He felt as if his younger self was always just a corner behind him, always close by ready to capture him again. He couldn't let that happen. He had to find Kyuubi, he had to get back to Sasuke. Everything had to go back to normal. It _had_ to. Tears leaked from his eyes, but he blinked them away. _No_. He was stronger than this younger self that as Kyuubi had forewarned, was threatening to consume him.

One more turn, just one more turn. Naruto ran around yet another corner and felt his heart soar. The gate, he'd reached it! He sprinted pell-mell towards it. Naruto reached the bars and collapsed to his knees.

"Kyuubi!" He cried.

"Kit?"

The fox demon appeared before him, tucking his paws around him. Naruto snuggled into the paws, but he knew that this feeling of relief was only a temporary comfort. He glanced over the top of Kyuubi's paws and saw his younger self, waiting at the very edge of the hall. He paced, like a caged lion, back and forth along the length of end of the hall. He could not enter this one place. Just barely, he had survived Kyuubi's last assault. Though he was stronger now, he couldn't survive another battle with the fox demon. He knew that, Naruto knew that, and Kyuubi knew that. So for now, younger him was in control; he was the one with the power. Naruto merely was safe, and comfortable, but he was not in control yet. It would probably be a long while before he would be able to even begin to fight for control again.

Naruto thought, as he lay against Kyuubi's large paws, of how he should have just listened to Sasuke. If he had allowed Sasuke to stay with him, Naruto could have talked to Kyuubi and figured out a way to fight this renewed, strengthened younger him. But no, he had to be prideful and idiotic and argue with Sasuke, sending him away. If only he'd just listened, he wouldn't be in this mess. But now Naruto was going to make this right. He would kill this younger self of his, once and for all. He would get control back, he would go back to Sasuke and make everything right. He had to.

**TBC…

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	13. Chapter 13

**AN:** I need to stop promising certain chapter lengths cuz I inevitably fail at meeting them. So...here you are. :D Partially filler, partially plot movement. I'll try to make the next one better, guys. :/ But I DO have finals this week, and I'm pretty bogged down, expect the next chapter in a few weeks at the minimum.

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Mad World 

Chapter 13 - You're Pathetic

* * *

Sasuke was becoming increasingly frustrated. So much so, that it was likely he'd murder someone. But, due to the circumstances he could not vent this anger in any way, shape, or form. He couldn't neutrally twitch away at Sakura about it, because then she would know. She was not allowed to know. If she knew, she would tell Kakashi. Kakashi would somehow tell Tsunade. The grapevine of Konoha was quite efficient, and Sasuke found its success rate in relaying information to be an abysmal curse. This curse thwarted his happiness at every opportunity. Though he was an Uchiha and technically not supposed to be happy ever, he was only supposed to be less than homicidal. This logic was also applied to the varying degrees in which he hated people. Sasuke Uchiha loved _no one_; he merely hated certain people less than others. A decisive annoyance behind his hand, he stuck the magnet to the refrigerator over the latest picture Naruto had colored for him. Despite Sasuke's most valiant efforts, he was failing rather spectacularly at returning Naruto to his normal self.

He had quickly learned how to rein in his anger. This younger Naruto that Sasuke was confronted with nearly every second of the day was innocent. There was no reason for Sasuke to treat him terribly, or to be angry at him. It wasn't like younger Naruto knew what was going on, or he was intentionally trying to suck all of the _less than homicidal_ moments out of his life. He was the real victim of the situation, in Sasuke's mind. But, in the beginning few days when it was clear that Naruto was having a longer than a few hours lapse this go round, Sasuke hadn't been quite as nice. He'd been unreasonably furious at Naruto for the littlest things. If Naruto asked if they could go see 'Flower girl', what was for breakfast/lunch/dinner, other harmless questions that grated against his sensitive nerves he exploded. Now, Sasuke could feel the hope draining from him. It had been three weeks now since the lapse started, and he was trying to find a way to look at the pros of the situation, if there were any. This Naruto was growing up mentally. It seemed that with each week that passed with Naruto in Sasuke's company he was gaining a mental year.

Surely, eventually, this Naruto would be the same age mentally as Sasuke was. He wasn't sure when that maturity would be reached. It could be a few days, weeks, months, or even _years_ from then. Would it be worth waiting out? Or should Sasuke just give up all hope, and send Naruto back to the sanatorium? Declare it a lost cause and throw himself into his work? Sasuke sighed and stared at Naruto's latest picture. It was more developed, like a young artist's. Merely a scribble in the eyes of anyone else, to Sasuke the drawing was a huge improvement from some that Naruto had drawn while in the sanatorium. With all the coloring Naruto had been doing, it seemed that his style matured as he did. Sasuke was sure that when he 'grew up' he would be a decent artist. The pitter-patter of familiar footsteps echoed in the hallway. Sasuke turned to face the wide arch leading into the hall and saw Naruto shuffle in. He pasted a smile onto his face and the blonde boy grinned.

"Awww, Sasuke-kun, you _still_ put my pictures on the fridge?" Naruto whined sheepishly. His face contorted into an exasperated smirk. Sasuke shot him an understanding look, though he was at a total loss. He began to take the picture down.

It was that time of the week again, the time that Naruto aged. Sasuke was always tempted to ask Naruto how old he thought he was. But there really was no way to ask that question without arousing suspicion. So he merely calculated the most likely age by certain mannerisms. For instance, that moment Naruto was giving him a new look, but it was still one that Sasuke could define in his head. It reminded him somewhat of a pre-teen staring awkwardly at a parent when they treated them like they were younger. Hmm, he'd been what, nine or ten last week? Sasuke mused. _So maybe he's twelve now…_

"Well, I mean, you can leave it up if you want." Naruto mumbled, lightly holding the picture he'd removed from Sasuke's hands. _Funny, I didn't even notice him take it from me._

"Wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of all these people, now would I?" Sasuke bit out teasingly.

Naruto instantly frowned. Sasuke ignored him and set about making lunch for them both. It was a recurring argument between the two of them. As Naruto was 'growing up' he was starting to notice that Sasuke didn't really have an excuse for not letting him see his 'friends'. Before when younger Naruto was just that, younger, he would be childishly frustrated and stomp off when Sasuke refused him. But, at the same time, he didn't argue and continually badger Sasuke for a reason as to why they couldn't go into town together. For Naruto, Sasuke supposed it felt like years were passing for him, like he was just any other kid maturing. Sasuke found that he felt oddly the same, even though technically only weeks were passing by. He was becoming concerned now, at the speed at which Naruto was aging. This time he'd grown two mental years in one week, if Sasuke's guess was correct.

"Why can't I see Flower girl anymore? Why can't I see Kakashi? They call asking you about me all time!" Naruto yelled.

"They're very busy, and too nice for their own good. Even if something very good for them showed up, they'd pass the opportunity by to see you. That's not very fair for them is it?"

Naruto drew back, making a face like he'd swallowed a lemon. Then he seemed to find an argument to counter with because he gathered himself up and opened his mouth to speak.

"I think it's _more_ unfair to not give them the option of making their own choices. You're assuming they'll put their careers first. Flower girl wouldn't be happy with you if she found out you were doing that."

Sasuke swallowed, outwardly remaining calm. On the inside, however, he was frozen. That was the most mature thing Naruto had ever said in his younger personality. In fact, Sasuke couldn't tell if Naruto was aging due to certain events or over a course of time. There was no real way to be sure. He forced himself to turn and look Naruto right in the eyes.

"I don't care whether or not she's happy. You're not going into town, they're not coming over, and that's the last I want to hear about it."

"Why?!"

"Because I said so!" Sasuke shouted sternly.

Naruto pouted, "I don't have to do what you say!"

"Go to your room!"

Naruto glared, and when he hesitated for a moment Sasuke realized what he'd just said and was momentarily afraid that Naruto would call him on it. But, angrily, Naruto stomped off to their room anyways, opened the door and then slammed it behind him. Sasuke grinded his teeth as he continued with the cooking. What had gotten into him? He hadn't even thought about what he'd said, it'd just come out reflexively. He lifted his shoulders up, hunched over the stove where he was absentmindedly stirring the macaroni noodles. He turned up the heat of the burner and stared at the water. The noodles floated about in the water, and as it began to boil, they whirled around uncontrollably. He set his wooden spoon down on the counter next to the stove, allowing the noodles to stir themselves. But, on the safe side, he turned the heat down a bit and leaned against the island counter, waiting.

He couldn't tell Naruto why Flower girl couldn't come over. She couldn't come over because Sasuke didn't want her to know that Naruto had had another lapse again. Especially after they were so sure that younger Naruto had died, that he wasn't coming back. Well he was back now, for sure, as it would seem. He was growing up too; a sure sign that he was winning the battle for control. Though Naruto hadn't really talked much about it with Sasuke, he'd explained certain things, with Kyuubi's help. Younger Naruto was like an infection in his brain, but it was a smart one. Kyuubi had been trying for two long years to find it and kill it. _That was the first time…_ Sasuke thought. _What about now?_ _Is it going to be another two years again?_

Sasuke knew, that if Younger Naruto persisted in his control, that he would eventually have to tell someone. He couldn't keep the boy cooped up in the Uchiha estate forever. It was truly terrible for him. The only reason that Sasuke hadn't invited Sakura over sooner was because of his own selfish reasons. He still held out hope that older Naruto, the real Naruto would come back to him. To invite Sakura over, and Kakashi, to tell them would be like admitting defeat. Sasuke didn't want to give up yet. He wanted to try to get Naruto back. Sasuke pushed himself forward off of the counter and back to the stove. Carefully he spooned out one of the noodles and popped it into his mouth. They were soft enough. He strained them over the sink and then poured the dry noodles back into the pan. After adding a bit of butter he deftly picked up the wooden spoon and stirred until the butter melted. He turned off the burner completely and dug around in the fridge for the cheese that Naruto liked, and the milk. In a manner that suggested much practice, Sasuke alternated sprinkling in the cheese and pouring in splashes of milk. Within a few minutes he created an orange, yellow, cheese paste that made Sasuke slightly nauseous. He had no idea how Naruto could eat the stuff, but he did, with disturbing enthusiasm.

Sasuke grabbed a mixing bowl from the cupboard under the counter, to the right of the stove. Then, he poured all of the cheese mixture and noodles into it, making sure to get every last bit of cheese. Tossing the pan into the sink he blindly plucked a fork out of the silverware drawer and wedged it into the macaroni concoction. He shuffled, mixing bowl in one hand and a glass of strawberry banana juice he'd poured in the other, down the hall to their room. Sasuke kicked at the door, his hands full. For a few minutes there was no sound of movement in the room at all. Naruto was probably childishly glaring at the door, relishing in ignoring him. Soon enough he smelled the lunch from the other side of the door, and he begrudgingly padded over and opened the door a crack.

Wordlessly Sasuke handed him the bowl through the opening Naruto had allowed, and then the juice. As an afterthought Sasuke pulled a bendy straw out of his pocket, bent it and stuck it in Naruto's glass. The boy chuckled nervously, staring at the floor but not closing the door yet. Sasuke waited. Naruto tilted the door further open with his foot and he walked off towards the bed. He haphazardly clambered up, somehow not spilling the juice onto the expensive bedspread. Sasuke cringed slightly as he watched Naruto set his juice down on the nightstand and then carelessly start eating his lunch. He entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Joining him on the bed, Sasuke sat up straight, his back pressed up against the headboard. Naruto glanced at him embarrassedly from the corner of his eye. Over a course of a few minutes he _stealthily_ wriggled over to Sasuke and leant against him. Sasuke maneuvered Naruto so that he was lying back against Sasuke's chest, in between his legs, while eating his lunch. This was younger Naruto's favorite way to 'cuddle', and seemed to calm him the most. Sasuke began weaving his fingers through Naruto's hair, coaxing the knots into untangling.

Naruto burped gracelessly and set his bowl on Sasuke's nightstand. Then, childishly he rolled over so that his face could nuzzle Sasuke's chest and push his scalp closer to his massaging hands. Naruto mumbled something, but it was hard to decipher when his voice was muffled against Sasuke's shirt. He rolled his eyes. This was not unlike Naruto, to only say something important as soon as it would be hard for someone to hear it. Sasuke made inquiring hums until Naruto finally lifted his head and repeated his words, though Sasuke noted that the boy would not meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry I kept bugging you about Flower girl…" Naruto muttered, blushing.

"No," Sasuke gulped, "…it's alright."

"Sasuke, I've been arguing with you all the time about it…and I-I feel really bad, I'm sorry. I know you don't like it when I argue with you."

Sasuke took in a deep breath. Naruto was giving him the opportunity to carry on in his self-centered desperate manner. Sasuke could say, 'it's okay, really' and then keep going. A large part of him really wanted to. But at the same time, he realized that it was time to let go. He could invite Sakura over, and tell her about the lapse. He need not give up hope entirely, but it was definitely time for his crazed attempts to bring back older Naruto to become more refined. Back to what he'd been doing in the sanatorium. Slowly he would bring back Naruto's memories until his older self started coming back again. It would be as simple as that. All he needed to do was give the real Naruto a fighting chance. Sasuke had no clue how long it would take, but he had to give it a shot. He pressed his cheek to the top of Naruto's head.

"No, I'm sorry." Sasuke choked, "I'll call Flower girl tomorrow, _and_ Kakashi. How bout that?"

* * *

Naruto nearly screamed. He watched on in dismay the scene unfolding before his very eyes. Younger him, curling up with Sasuke, was manipulating him into giving up hope. _That sly bastard_, Naruto thought. He leant against the thick bars of the gate holding Kyuubi back. The great fox demon was taking a break from firing countless waves down to the end of the hall. The infectious prat himself was lurking there smirking. He occasionally sent images of what was going on in the real world while he was gone. Much like he was doing at that very moment. He'd sent a screen down for Naruto's viewing pleasure. Sasuke (clearly giving up), and younger Naruto (smugly taking over everything) filled the electric ring.

"Why don't you come over here and fight me by yourself, coward?!" Younger him taunted, "Or you too afraid to face me without papa fox's help?"

Naruto was strongly moved to retort 'I'm not afraid!' But he couldn't say it. He _was_ afraid. Younger him seemed to be growing stronger with each passing day. Naruto had barely managed to escape him last time, and even now, he was only truly safe here under Kyuubi's guard. He hated it. Right now they were at a stalemate. Younger him could not move within range to attack Naruto, and Naruto couldn't leave the hall without the risk of losing. But he knew, eventually he would have to leave the hall and fight. If he just stayed hiding there forever, then there would be no chance at all of him regaining control.

"Kyuubi?" Naruto whispered.

"What kit?"

"What would happen if I lost?"

Kyuubi did not answer him immediately. He lay in his cage, breathing deeply. Still trying to rest from his previous attempts to weaken the infection. When he did answer, his words were not comforting in the slightest.

"You and your memories would be locked away in another part of your mind. But you wouldn't even be aware of your surroundings, almost as if you fell asleep. You wouldn't have any control, even over the form you take on here." Kyuubi explained solemnly, "The infection would have complete control."

"That doesn't sound much different from the situation now." Naruto grumbled.

"Then give in, if you want. I'm tired of these endless, fruitless attacks."

Naruto sighed and turned away from his demon. He surely was no help. Despite the chance updates that the infection sent his way, Naruto had no idea how much time had passed since he'd gone under. This timeless sensation made it so much worse. For all Naruto knew it could have been a few days at the most. Or, this could all be a dream and he could wake up at any moment and have Sasuke back in his arms again. There was no way to be really sure. If this _was_ a dream, then what was the point of just sitting there, waiting to wake up? Naruto rose shakily to his feet.

He walked down to the end of the hall, the water sloshing around his ankles. Naruto heard the Kyuubi ask him what he was doing, but he ignored him. He could do this without his help. Naruto stood a few feet away from the end of the hall, and was now close enough to see the malevolent look on the infection's face. The boy smirked, summoning up electricity, in a ball around his hand. Naruto noted that it vaguely resembled the Chidori move Kakashi had taught to Sasuke. But, still, it was merely a flaunting gesture, to show his strength. He wouldn't dare step over the line and enter Kyuubi's range. There was too much risk in that.

"You're pathetic." Naruto snarled.

Younger him flinched, taking a step back. He was used to his opponent whining, sniveling and looking terrified. But he quickly regained his composure and growled back. "I'm the pathetic one? I'm not the one hiding behind-"

"Let me elaborate." Naruto sighed; as though he thought what he'd said shouldn't require explanation, "You actually think that your little game will keep Sasuke from leaving?"

"Yes, it's not like you were any-"

"Oh, right, so clearly my failure to make him stay means your plan will succeed?"

"Well, there's always the chance that-"

"Excuse me, what I meant to say was, you think that Sasuke _Uchiha_ will stay if he has some whining mentally retarded brat clinging to him?" Naruto delighted in the fact that his younger self didn't leap to interrupt him again, "If he has to take care of some guy his age who thinks he's a little kid, do you think he'll be inclined to stay?"

"But he cares about us! He would stay and…and help us!" Younger him was glaring, but there was just the slightest air of uncertainty shrouding him now, "What do you know? You're my prisoner here, start acting like one! Go back to papa fox and cry! You're so good at it!"

With that, the wavering infection stormed off around the corner and out of sight. Naruto took a step past the corner. He glanced back and forth down the hall that he hadn't been able to come close to for who knows how long. Laughing to himself, Naruto returned to the gate and sat down in the water. The infection would return, but Naruto applauded himself, and that seed of doubt planted. Maybe…maybe he _could_ win.

* * *

Stomping off down the corridor, he growled. How dare that brat question his plans? They were perfect! Sasuke had yet to leave! If anything he seemed more hopeless and run down than ever, he didn't have the motivation to beat the younger Naruto let alone fight his way out of Konoha. His plans were flawless, Sasuke couldn't possibly leave him. He couldn't. There he stopped, in the middle of the dank imposing hall. The bricks were slimy from the humidity, and the water around his ankles was hissing and boiling. Everything around him was a threat, but he'd grown a thick skin. He could handle anything papa fox decided to throw at him. But even so, he faltered. What if Sasuke _did_ leave? What then?

* * *

Naruto awoke in his bed sweating profusely. He panted, staring around the room. His laundry basket sat on the floor near the dresser he'd picked out just last week. Posters of his favorite bands were haphazardly taped up on the wall (much to Sasuke's chagrin), and several pairs of pants and underwear were strewn about the floor. He was in his room, everything was fine. It had all just been a dream. Sasuke hadn't left. It had been so long since he'd had nightmares. Back when he was little, in the building with the other children still with Miss Martha, he'd had plenty of nightmares. Sighing in relief, Naruto slid out of bed and wandered around the room picking up various articles of clothing and smelling them. Eventually he found something to wear with minimal staining and a less than obnoxious odor. He dressed himself, raking a hand through his oily hair, and went down the stairs for breakfast.

A little while ago he'd finally asked Sasuke if he could have his own room. He was getting older now, and it was kind of weird to still share a bed with someone you pretty much considered your big brother. Naruto remembered when he'd first cautiously brought up the subject with Sasuke. Honestly, he had no idea what kind of reaction he'd expected, but the one he'd received was startling to say the least. Sasuke had grown rigid, and slammed his plate down on the table, grumbling an agreement. Somehow he made the simple word 'yes' sound like a death threat. Naruto had thought about taking it back, and staying in Sasuke's room with him, but he knew that there would be no taking it back. That and he really, really wanted his own room. He was sure that every other kid his age had their own room.

But, still, as the furniture movers delivered the bedroom things he'd picked out, Sasuke had been growling and glaring and hissing at everyone and everything. Naruto had carefully avoided the man, choosing instead to send the movers his way. Mean and unfair to them, but still ultimately the safer course of action for Naruto. Besides, they'd get over their post traumatic stress disorders someday. Now, Naruto was down the stairs and in the kitchen, watching Sasuke make breakfast. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the wafts of warm air which carried the tell tale signs that Sasuke had once again over done it with the spices. So what if he couldn't taste anything for days afterwards, Naruto was just glad he didn't have to cook for himself. He was hopeless in the kitchen.

These days, Sasuke had been particularly sensitive. Naruto had noted that he grew angry at the slightest thing, and one could never tell what he'd said to set the man off. In fact, at that very moment, Naruto could tell that Sasuke was once again furious over _something_. He rolled his eyes and debated whether or not he should tell Sasuke about his nightmare. It was the first nightmare he'd had since he was little, when he had bad dreams about a boy he thought he knew, and a bad man who always took him away or hurt him. Naruto had thought when he was younger, how weird it was, the resemblance Sasuke bore to that boy. But he'd never said anything about it. They couldn't be the same person, because Sasuke was older than he was, and Naruto had been the same age as that boy. But last night, in that nightmare, Sasuke had taken the place of that boy. Naruto scowled.

Sasuke gingerly placed a plate in front of him and sat down at the table with him. Naruto began eating, without a word. Getting Sasuke angry was never a wise course of action, but it was quite hard to avoid. Either he was angry, or indifferent, there was no other option. Naruto decided to risk it.

"I had a nightmare last night." Naruto muttered.

* * *

Sasuke glanced up from his breakfast at Naruto. It had been nearly three months now since the lapse. Sakura and Kakashi had been made known of it, and Tsunade, and Iruka, and practically everyone. It had taken a lot of arguing and frustration on his part, but he'd managed to convince the head of the sanatorium to let Naruto stay at the estate with him despite such a lapse. To have him suddenly return to the sanatorium with little to no explanation would not be good for him. Who knows what kind of setbacks there would be then. So now, with a Naruto Sasuke guess was probably nearing fourteen, Sasuke ate breakfast. The leap from twelve to fourteen had taken two months, which was intriguing to Sasuke if not frustrating. He still hadn't decided which was easier, fourteen or twelve. Twelve marked the independent stage where Naruto chose to move into his own room and listen to obnoxious rock music. Fourteen meant that he put off taking a shower for a week and a half at the longest, a few days minimum. It also meant he was a teenager, even though Sasuke knew that he also was one of this repulsive species, at leas he was more mature about it. Younger Naruto was just entering 'teenagehood', and was thoroughly frustrating. He'd just discovered sarcasm.

Also, Sasuke noted with some pride and some frustration, Naruto wasn't as easily frightened of him. With this lack of fear, and the aging, he no longer had nightmares. This was something Sasuke questioned, and simultaneously was thankful for. Having to try and wrestle in the middle of the night, with a younger Naruto in the throes of a night terror was not entertaining. So now, with Naruto announcing to him (now at the mental age of fourteen) that he had had a nightmare, Sasuke scowled. He couldn't help it. Just because they no longer shared a room didn't mean that Sasuke didn't check on him in the night. In a very maternal sense, Sasuke had developed the habit of knowing intuitively when Naruto was upset or hurt. This seemed to apply to nightmares as well. After Naruto had moved into his own room, whenever he had a dream that was less than pleasant, or when he woke up (even to go to the bathroom) Sasuke stirred from his sleep. It was greatly frustrating.

Sasuke could tell that his expression had bothered Naruto but admired how the boy pushed past it and said, "It…it was sort of like those ones I had when I was little…"

"I know the ones."

"But…but instead of that boy…it, it was you, and you left! The bad man didn't even force you to go, you just went." Naruto's voice, however determined to carry the message to Sasuke's ears, grew quieter and quieter. Almost like Hinata's.

Sasuke felt like he'd drunk a whole bottle of expired milk. A very likely case as he suddenly was feeling violently sick. Clearly the nausea crept onto his face because Naruto started apologizing in that small awkward voice. Sasuke reached out for Naruto's hand and held it for a moment. He tried to find a way to say what he was thinking. He wasn't leaving; it seemed like every variation of Naruto thought he was just going to walk away at any moment. What was it about him that made him so…Sasuke shut down that train of thought. It was obvious, duh. He left back then, and was _forced_ to come home. Now that he was home, he was angry and pissy all the time. But…that's just the way he was. They couldn't honestly expect him to be bright eyed and bushy tailed all the time could they? Sasuke shook his head. _They, it's HIM. Naruto is one person…_Sasuke glanced up to meet Naruto's eyes.

"I'm sorry that…that you had another nightmare. I know how much they bother you." Sasuke said, "But it was just that, a nightmare, it wasn't real. I'm not going to leave you Naruto."

Naruto nodded, and then graced him with a brilliant smile. He quickly withdrew his hand from Sasuke's and finished his breakfast. Sasuke wondered at the gradual distaste for touch that Naruto was developing lately. It was almost like a kid squirming away from their parents in front of their classmates. Like it was embarrassing. But…Sasuke gagged. Younger Naruto didn't seem him as a parent did he? That was Kakashi's role, or Iruka's. Hell, even Sakura could be his mother if she wanted. But…not him, not _him_. Sasuke watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye as he ate, trying to smother his nausea the best he could. As he cleaned up he halted Naruto from leaving. He reminded the boy that he should wash down the counters and the table before he went to play his video games. Unsurprisingly Naruto groaned in that childish way he'd adopted and set about his required chores. Sasuke paused with his hands in the suds and glanced at Naruto over his shoulder.

"You shouldn't groan at me like that, it's not like I'm your mom or something." Sasuke snapped.

Naruto did the worst thing he possibly could have done at that moment. He laughed. Sasuke tensed.

"Sometimes you act like one Sasukeee, but don't worry." Naruto chuckled and in what he probably thought was a reassuring voice added, "If you really want to know, I see you more as a big brother than a parent."

Sasuke sighed in relief. He could live with being the big brother. That was definitely better than mom. Still, it wasn't quite what he wanted. Sasuke started at that thought. What did he want? He knew the answer to that question, he just wasn't sure he wanted to admit it, to himself or anyone else.

**TBC…

* * *

**


	14. Chapter 14

**Mad World**

Chapter 14 - Ignore the sand in my vag

* * *

"Aaaah!"

"Please stop it! I _control_ y-"

_Thud._

Naruto smirked. With a grim satisfaction he dragged the infection by the collar all the way to the gates. Kyuubi was eyeing him with no small amount of pride. Naruto laid younger him in the water, up against the bars. The demon fox reached out and placed a secure paw on the boy, holding him in place with no chance of escape. Though papa fox was giving him that exasperated look Naruto merely shrugged. So what if that crotchety old man didn't understand his plan? He'd get over it just for the sake of being able to hold the infection down and scare the living shit out of him. That was good enough for him…for now.

"Kit? Are you sure it's a good idea to _not_ kill him?" Kyuubi muttered.

"Yes, I'm sure. Just wait and see."

With that, Naruto sat down in the water, and closed his eyes. He had no idea how exactly he was going to get back but…Kyuubi swung a paw at him, knocking him through the air and against the wall. Well _that works_.

Naruto opened his eyes and stared around him in confusion. He was in a room, one that smelled disgusting, and did not look like his. Where was Sasuke? Was Naruto still even in the estate? Maybe he was back at the sanatorium? Naruto's eyes grew wide and he leaped off the bed, slipping and falling when his foot caught on an article of clothing. He got up again and dodged every pair of underwear he could on his way to the door. Taking a sniff at the air once he opened the door Naruto reassured himself he was still in the estate. That was the delicious smell of Sasuke making breakfast. He was on the second floor. Naruto narrowed his eyes…wasn't the point to get Sasuke closer not to push him away? He shook his head. He didn't have the time to wonder, who knew when the infection would wake up. Naruto had to get this done.

He catapulted himself down the stairs and around the corner. Stampeding into the kitchen like a herd of rhinos Naruto found Sasuke at the stove making pancakes. He paused. Oh great. Kakashi and Sakura were sitting at the table staring at him in concern. Naruto shrugged them off, better they know to get in the act too. But still, it was Sasuke that Naruto started talking to first.

"Sasuke! Listen to me, I don't have much time, and this is very important." Naruto started.

Sasuke froze, staring at the stove with wide eyes. Naruto could feel the tension, the hope, and then the disbelief rolling off of him in palpable waves. He didn't have time for Sasuke to go into shock, and he promptly told him that. Sasuke turned to look at him, glaring, mostly because he probably didn't know how else to react. Naruto strode determinedly over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him roughly.

"Sasuke, listen to me. I have been stuck at the gates holding back Kyuubi for who knows how long now, being leered at by the infection. Right now I've managed to knock him out and he's in Kyuubi's hold, but I don't know how long I have till he wakes up."

"You didn't kill it?!" Sasuke growled.

"No, but I have a plan-"

"I don't care about your plans! Kill him now, please Naruto, I can't…I can't do this anymore!" In a moment Naruto knew he wasn't likely to see again, Sasuke looked tired. It was much like the day when Sasuke found out Itachi was back. Naruto tried his hardest to look past this, but it was getting worse and worse the longer Sasuke pleaded with him.

"Well, _I_ care about these plans, now stop wasting my time!" Sasuke clamped his mouth shut and let Naruto speak.

"The infection managed to escape because I don't think it's possible to completely kill it. In fact, I'm not so sure it's really an infection anymore; I think he's part of me. He's just gotten out of hand a little."

"Naruto, get to your point."

"Anyways, my point is, he will keep thinking that _his_ plan is working if you don't show him anything to contradict that. If he thinks you're leaving him, he'll give up hope, and fade away. I can't convince him that what he's doing isn't working by myself, I need some kind of outwards proof." Naruto explained.

Sasuke seemed to be getting it. He always was the genius of the trio. Sakura was screeching something irrelevant, and Kakashi was trying his best to subdue her. Either way Naruto didn't care what was going on with them. He was surprised that by the end of his explanation, younger him still hadn't woken up yet. So, he gathered them around the table and started working out how they were going to prove Sasuke's leaving. It took a while to get Sakura to stop protesting the whole idea. Naruto had to tell her several times it would all be an act, and that after he came back for good there would be no more talk of Sasuke leaving. As he expected, his time didn't last forever. But he wished he had a little more warning before he passed out into a bowl of oatmeal.

* * *

"What did you do?!" He shouted.

Naruto laughed. He was back in front of the gates again. Somehow he'd gotten his clothes back. Huh. Younger him was scowling like the petulant child that he was, securely held down by Kyuubi's paw. Yet, as requested, Kyuubi had not killed him. Naruto had started to work out a theory, an important one. It made him feel really smart, actually. He knew if he told Sasuke it, or even Sakura they'd ask him if Kyuubi had thought it up first and he was just the messenger. Now that was just insulting. But, believable too. The most important part of this supposed theory of his was that younger him could _not_ die. He really needed to stay alive. But…well, maybe he did need to die. But Naruto was hoping that his theory was correct because there were very few moments in his life where he could feel smart. Also, if his theory was incorrect, his plan could still serve a purpose either way. Younger him squirmed and glared but didn't say anything further. He merely pouted. Naruto nodded to Kyuubi.

"Let him go." Naruto commanded.

"Kit, if we let him go…who knows how long it will take to get him back again! We should kill him now; I will make sure that he does _not_ survive this time."

Naruto shook his head; he stared into Kyuubi's eyes, each of which was the size of Naruto's head, if not larger. Kyuubi acquiesced and allowed younger him to slip free. But still, the little prat didn't run, he gazed at Naruto, questioning, and confused. He asked why Naruto was letting him go. But Naruto simply shook his head and sat down in the water, leaning up against the bars of the gate. Let the infection, or not infection, come up with his own story, it'd probably be better than the actual thing anyways. Younger him demanded an explanation, but when Naruto offered to have Kyuubi hold him down again, the boy dashed off down the hall and out of sight. Naruto chuckled. His plan was currently being set into motion, and he could feel, somehow, that it was working out beautifully.

* * *

Sasuke casually watched as younger Naruto regained control, and suddenly there was a very confused bag of hormones pulling his face out of some oatmeal. He blinked, then blushed when he realized that 'flower girl' was watching. Naruto wiped off the oatmeal with the napkin Sasuke handed him. He stared around, as though wondering how he had gotten from his bed to the kitchen. No doubt he didn't have a single memory of the journey down the stairs. Sasuke offered him an explanation that he'd sleepwalked, which was believable enough. Younger Naruto had seemed to inherit the sleepwalking tendency from the older one, and Sasuke had taken to tying a bell around his neck before he went to bed at night. Of course, younger Naruto didn't find this funny in the slightest. Oh, but Sasuke thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world. Until Naruto called him 'mom' by accident, then it was no longer funny. Then, then it had been time to beat his ass. (Not that he actually did beat him, though he was sorely tempted)

"So, why are you guys here?" Naruto asked, glancing between Kakashi and Sakura.

"Naruto, you know how I told you…a few days ago that…"

"You met some guy, and you really like him, and you make kissy faces. Now I therefore should put up with him?" Naruto drawled.

Sasuke snorted into his cup of coffee. He liked this sarcastic Naruto. _That train of thought ended. Five minutes ago._ The funny thing about this Naruto was that he was actually growing up. The closer he was getting to the age older Naruto was at currently the more Sasuke enjoyed his company. Because although this 'younger Naruto' thought that Sasuke and they were all older than he was, they were still his friends. So, mostly, this is what Naruto would have been like if he'd been raised by a whole community of people that actually cared about him. Well, practically a community, there were enough people now that loved him, or were friends with him at least to substantiate a clan practically. It was interesting to see what he would have been like if he'd ever had…_don't say it._ Sasuke sighed inwardly, _a family_.

Despite how well they got along, and how endearingly caustic, confident and comfortable this Naruto was; Sasuke was sure of one thing. He would never entirely replace older Naruto, the one Sasuke grew up with, and the one Sasuke was friends with. That Naruto was the one that Sasuke wanted back, he did. Sometimes he had to tell himself that was the truth because he knew it was. But, the fact of the matter was that this Naruto wasn't half bad. In fact, in some ways they got along even better. This Naruto had 'grown up' with physical affection at his beck and call, love all around him, people that cared for him. He didn't have to fight and claw and force himself on people. He didn't need to be reassured that people loved him; it was just another part of his life. It wasn't anything new. So, Naruto could be snarky, sarcastic and downright bitchy whenever he wanted. He never worried that someone was really going to leave him, except Sasuke and that was only really if he had a nightmare. But…that nightmare was so baseless for this Naruto that all Sasuke had to do was promise that he wouldn't leave. Naruto believed him.

So, as a 'teenager' now, this Naruto had developed a healthy sense of sarcasm and drudgery. Living with Sasuke and practically being raised by him ensured that he was good with his words. He'd also taken to reading…_a lot_. His vocabulary had significantly broadened. It was always startling to hear him use a word that was more than three syllables long that Sasuke had to go look up in a dictionary. Most of the times he knew the words…he just forgot what they meant or how to spell them. It was such a new feeling, to hear Naruto use a word that he forgot the meaning of. Because…well, the older Naruto didn't _read_. That was unheard of. Even Sakura had been shocked. Kakashi had jokingly nudged Sakura and said, 'Maybe we should keep him.' However lighthearted the sentiment had been, both Sakura and Sasuke had frozen, and glared at him with such a violent passion that Kakashi had felt their killer intent wash over him in waves. He had never uttered anything similar to the thought ever again.

"Yes, Naruto. That would be very gracious of you." Sakura replied snootily. Despite her words being aimed at the blonde next to him, Sakura sent him a glare.

Sasuke lifted his eyebrows at her, _what?_ Every time that Naruto said something that was less than perfectly polite, Sakura always gave him that look. It was like she was disapproving of his parenting, or something. Seriously. Did she even realize what she was thinking? She was acting like this new attitude was a bad thing. Maybe she wasn't used to Naruto _not_ continually taking the proverbial kick to the stones all the time and not caring. She was used to a Naruto that joked and teased but gave a damn if he hurt her feelings or she hadn't appreciated (in a seriously offended way) what he'd said. Sasuke leant back in his chair, feeling just a touch smug. Maybe Naruto deserved this little bit of freedom. Of course he would never let her know that when Naruto talked back to _him_ they had verbal battles; the likes of which were so venomous they'd have made Sakura cry just being in the same room as them while they were at it. Usually Sasuke came out the victor because he had the ultimate trump card. He shifted awkwardly in his seat. Said trump card being that he could scream (red faced and pathetic) 'Go to your room!' Naruto would pout and stomp off, and Sasuke would feel motherly and disgusting. He would then go into the courtyard and punch the cherry blossom tree for a while. Sometimes though, Naruto would win because he could call Sasuke on being motherly, and Sasuke would stomp off to _his_ room. It was really _quite_ pitiful.

"So anyways, what about kissy face man? Is he still sleep-deprived? Cuz I had an idea about how to fix that." Naruto had that quality to his voice that indicated he didn't care either way if the conversation continued. It insisted that he merely was carrying it on because he had nothing better to do and that if he wanted it to end, it would end. Sasuke was just…so…_proud_.

Sakura tapped her fingernails on the scrubbed wooden table. They were clipped rather short for a girl but still she managed to create an angry staccato rhythm on the surface. She growled slightly.

"We've been engaged to be married now for quite a while. Our wedding is going to be in a week or two, and I would like for you to stand next to me at the altar." Sakura measured her words carefully but Naruto didn't miss a beat.

"In other words you want me to be your maid of honor?" He snorted, "I'm not gonna wear a dress unless Sasuke has to wear one too. But actually I don't see the point in that, he wouldn't really suffer, cuz he'd look good in a dress anyways."

Sasuke glared at him and Sakura smiled, relieved to no longer be Naruto's only target. The point of Naruto's answer was pretty much that it wasn't a 'no'. He'd do it, if he didn't have to wear a dress. That was fine. Sakura started discussing with him the time of the week that they would need to go into town to get him fitted for a tux. He was bitching all the while about wearing a white tux and especially not with a pink or yellow tie. But Sakura merely used her inhuman strength to bruise his wrist and he decided that yellow was an alright color. Though as soon as she released her grip he told her that color she'd picked out looked like the Easter bunny had taken a piss on the tie. _But_ he hadn't said 'no' to wearing the damn thing. Sasuke sighed.

When Sakura and Kakashi finally left Naruto was relieved. Sasuke was too. He was tired of having Sakura glare at him for things that Naruto was saying. Okay, so maybe it was time to start putting the plan into effect. He was going to have to start casually packing stuff, or start an argument. Or both. Sasuke turned around and glared at Naruto, who glared back, not intimidated in the least.

"You know, there are times to be an asshole, and times to _not_ be an asshole Naruto. You need to learn the difference." Sasuke growled.

"What? What did I say now?"

"Everything!"

"Oh, I said everything, therefore I'm an asshole?"

Sasuke groaned and massaged his forehead. He had no idea that raising a teenager was this hard, especially when you inadvertently train them to be a total douche bag. "This wedding is really important to Sakura; the least you could do is try to act like a decent person. Even _I_ can do that."

Naruto scoffed at him but realized he didn't have a good comeback to that. Because really there wasn't. If Sasuke, the ice king, bitchiest of the bitches could be nice about this, then there was no reason Naruto couldn't. He just didn't want to be, and Sasuke couldn't understand why. Then, then he got an idea. Sasuke approached him and snatched his cup of coffee out of Naruto's hands. The blonde boy glowered at him but didn't say anything.

"She won't stop being flower girl, Naruto. Just because she's getting married doesn't mean she'll stop being that person." Yep. If the way Naruto was staring neutrally at the tiled floor was any indication, Sasuke had guessed right.

"She did stop. She's changed. She doesn't look at me the same anymore."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Maybe it's because you're being such a shithead to her."

"But you're a shithead to her!" Naruto protested.

"But she's used to me being that way. It's how I am. She's used to you being nice to her, or at least friendly teasing not outright bitchy."

Naruto couldn't argue with that so he looked away from him. "So get the sand out of your vag and apologize to her. Go out to get that tux and like whatever she wants you to wear, put on a smile and you fucking _like_ it. Get it?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

Sasuke carelessly dropped the coffee mug into the sink and left the kitchen. He went into his room and slammed the door behind him with a bang that resonated throughout the house. It wasn't going to be too hard to dredge up some anger to fuel some arguments or some fistfights. But it would be really hard to maintain it if he consciously thought about the plan he was carrying out. Then he would feel bad. It was weird, feeling bad for making this Naruto hurt, or for 'leaving' him. Because really this Naruto wasn't the bad guy, it was the infection running around in Naruto's head. So…if the infection died, was it just bad luck for the younger Naruto on the outside? It wasn't the first time Sasuke had thought about it. It was like he wanted to have his cake and eat it too. Why couldn't he just have both Naruto's, as separate people? This Naruto could change in appearance a little, and Sasuke could give him a different name. Wait, this was wrong, he shouldn't even be thinking it. Falling back on the bed Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to take a nap. But the slight tinkling of dishes in the sink, and the swish-swish sound of Naruto sweeping the floor kept him awake. He was cleaning the kitchen.

This plan was going to be very hard to carry through.

**TBC…

* * *

**


	15. Chapter 15

**Mad World**

Chapter 15 - Us

* * *

Naruto was having an awkward week. He scowled inwardly as he allowed Sakura to dress him up in the gayest tuxes he'd ever seen. Seriously. White tux with a pink tie and kerchief? Was she going senile or something? The only thing keeping him from snarling was Sasuke's words. _Put on a smile and you fucking like it, got it?_ Naruto did get it. Didn't mean he liked it any more when flower girl smiled at him and told him that pink and white looked quite good on him. The formal apparel store wasn't used to snotty teenagers like him, he supposed. The stuffy old ladies that ran the place kept shooting him dirty looks. He glared right back, but only when flower girl wasn't looking. He didn't want to get in trouble with her and have her yell at Sasuke about it. The only thing that was stuffier than the old crones was the air in the store. Add a stiflingly hot tux with a collar that chafed against his neck and Naruto was sweating far too much while wearing clothes he didn't own. Naruto tried to hint at this to flower girl but she wasn't getting the clue or didn't care. Either one was likely; especially since sleepy kissy face man was there.

When Naruto was first introduced to sleepy face man he wasn't quite sure what to make of him. Well, he knew off the bat that he didn't like him. This was because the sod was dating flower girl, and this was automatically a bad thing. Naruto knew it was likely some sort of crazy frustration because flower girl was the closest thing he had to a sister, or a mom. Seeing her dating, or engaged was really weird. He didn't like it, especially when it was sleepy face man. There was just something about him that made Naruto want to neuter him and brutally, slowly murder him. He didn't really know what it was. But every time he blinked at him in that fatigued way, and smiled tiredly at flower girl, Naruto saw red. The worst part of all of this was that the man hadn't really done anything to Naruto to earn such hatred. Sasuke alluded to some sort of event that involved him that happened before Naruto's accident. Of course he never said anything directly or explained it, but he mentioned once that something that happened that involved sleepy face man. It made the whole village very angry, and sad. Mostly the village was over it, but that might explain some of his feelings.

"C'mon Naruto, Itachi and I are gonna put that tux on reserve for you for the day of the wedding. You can change out of it now." Sakura chirped.

Naruto held in a growl. She was happy. She was happy with _him_, Naruto; he had made her not angry with him. So therefore he should smile and change out of the tux, and go sit through a lunch with her and her fiancée. He gagged. Just as he was rounding the corner to join flower girl again, changed out of the tux back into his normal clothes, he stopped himself. Sleepy face man and flower girl were talking in hushed voices, and they were talking about him. But the conversation didn't make any sense to him.

"So, the plan is definitely going to work?" That was sleepy face man.

"Yes, if Naruto says it'll work, it will. Besides…I miss my best friend, I want the real Naruto back." That was flower girl. What was she talking about? The _real_ him? He didn't remember telling her about any plan.

"I know Sasuke is going nearly crazy without him. It's been three months…"

"If Naruto says it'll work, as you say, it will probably work. I've seen his determination firsthand you know."

"Hmm, you're right. I'm sure it will be fine."

Then there were sounds that indicated they were kissing. Naruto rounded the corner and cleared his throat to get their attention. They stopped to turn their attention back onto him. Sakura looked a little embarrassed but Itachi apparently couldn't care less. Naruto decided that he really didn't need to say anything to them in order to express his distaste for their face sucking; a glare would do just fine. In fact, it was more than fine. Sakura looked downright ashamed of herself on the walk home. Itachi seemed resentful of him for causing his fiancée such distress, and Naruto couldn't be bothered to look remorseful. With one glare he had ruined the rest of their afternoon. Instead of going for lunch as had been planned, Itachi curtly bid him farewell and sent him back to the estate. Naruto was quite proud of himself. He couldn't wait to tell Sasuke of this triumph.

He entered the house and slipped off his shoes. It was quiet and impeccably clean, as was usual for them. So, Naruto thought nothing of it as he maneuvered through the halls. He checked all the rooms Sasuke usually inhabited, the living room, the kitchen, the office. But he wasn't in any of them, so Naruto dared to knock on the door to his room, the one that Naruto used to share with him. No response. Naruto tried again. Again he was met with silence. He was sure that if he tried hard enough, he could hear dust motes drifting through the air. Finally, in exasperation Naruto through the door open. It hit the wall with a resounding _BANG_ that was thoroughly unsettling. Such a sharp contrast to the silence it was that Naruto felt a bit of adrenalin course through his veins. But the sight that greeted him was so shocking his newfound energy plummeted down from its buzzing twitch to a low thrum. The room was empty, it was not just empty of the person he was looking for. The dresser's drawers were yanked open and were barren. The armoire's doors were shut, but Naruto was sure, now, that if he opened them they would reveal that it was free of clothing. The rest of the room was immaculate. The hastily left open drawers the only sign of something wrong.

Naruto shuffled into the room, each step making him more nauseous. By the time he got to the bed Naruto felt the strength slowly seep out of his limbs. He collapsed onto the bed. A discreet noise beneath him caused him to shift. A note! Sasuke had left him a note! Naruto brightened; maybe it wasn't what he thought. Maybe Sasuke had merely taken his clothes out for dry cleaning. But no…no…NO! Naruto stared forlornly down at the small wrinkled piece of paper. It wasn't even addressed to him, it was to Sakura. Sasuke had left?! Why?! He read all the way to the bottom of the page, still confused as ever. Sasuke wrote that he couldn't do it anymore, he couldn't be everything to the different person Naruto had become. He wanted the _real_ Naruto back, and he wasn't going to sit around and spend time with some retarded parody of his old friend. Naruto dropped the note, reeling back as though he'd been slapped. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be. This would all just be a joke (a very _sick_ joke, but a joke), right?

Naruto fell back onto the bed, curling up on his side. Shallow breaths managed to fill his lungs before he would gasp again. He couldn't…get his breathing…under control. It was just so quiet. No one was there. No one knew what was going on; except maybe Sakura, his flower girl, his person. She was there before all the others, after his accident. How could she know about all of this and not tell him? The silence was overpowering. A constant downpour of this noiseless void was threatening to eat away at him. He wanted sound! Naruto catapulted off the bed, storming over to the door. He grabbed the handle and slammed it shut with as much force as possible. _BANG!_ There, sound. It echoed throughout the house, and the door itself rattled for a few minutes after. But then there was silence again. Impossibly quiet, all but for the static, the low whistling in his ears. That sound that fills your sense of hearing when there is nothing else to be heard. It's a comfort to your psyche, because without any sound at all everything else is magnified. The senses are meant to be equal in their assessment of the world you live in. They create your world for you, really. When one is gone, or not able to absorb, it creates. What it spawns could be anywhere from minimally uncomfortable to horrifying. Naruto was, for the moment, merely antsy.

Who was this real Naruto? Why wasn't he real? What did he do?! He crumpled against the wall, sliding into a heap of despair. Then, he felt the world around him mutating and warping until everything went to black. Then…then there was nothing, and for all that he knew, he had merely drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"_YOU!_" Naruto glanced up from the water at his feet.

Younger him. He was storming down the corridor straight at him. Despite the growling, hateful demon fox behind the bars that Naruto was leaning up against. An impressive show of bravery… _Or reckless disregard and fury,_ Naruto mused. In a moment the child was right in front of him, face red and indignant. Naruto waited. He knew what this was about. He could feel the status quo shifting in his favor, but this wasn't really what it was about. He knew now, Naruto had wizened some (a shocking thought for all), and he had gained some perspective on this 'infection' living in his mind. In fact, younger him was not an infection at all. He was just another facet of Naruto's personality, all of his flaws wrapped into a hateful bundle of monstrous intentions coiled like a spring and waiting to pounce. Of course, everyone has this side of them. A one sided concept is rather bland. Naruto realized that in his day to day life, there quite a few traits in younger him that he was familiar with. Something that Orochimaru had shown him those few years ago had been the last straw. Frightened, defeated, weak, he had withdrawn and healed, allowing this stronger part of him to take over. But now, now Naruto was better. But this other part wouldn't let go, and that wasn't going to work. They needed to work out an agreement.

"Me?" Naruto questioned neutrally.

"You, you…you did this!"

"Did what?"

"While I was knocked out, you made him leave! You convinced him to go! After all this work I've done, you make him leave us! How could you?!" Younger him growled.

"I didn't do anything. Maybe I wanted to stretch my legs for a while? Have a breath of real air? Did that ever occur to you?" Naruto snorted, "Straight to the evil conspiracies, I'm starting to think this is a pattern with you that I'm going to have to get used to."

"Stop it! Listen to me!"

"Oh yes, listening." Naruto brought his eyes up to meet his younger self's. He waited.

As though confused about what to do with this new found attention younger him paused; suddenly silent. When he opened his mouth to speak again Naruto wasn't surprised to have the same accusation (while true, though younger him for all intents and purposes was not allowed to know that) spat back at him. Naruto refused to answer the questions, dodging and weaving around them, nodding, and patiently eyeing the younger him. Finally, the other side of his personality fell to his knees in the water and crawled over to the bars. He settled down next to Naruto, leaning up against the gate much like Naruto was. Together they shared a silence that was neither charged with heated animosity, prickly and uncomfortable, or overly familiar. It was somewhere in between any sort of strong emotion.

"I can't stop him from leaving us. He's going to leave…he _did_ leave…" Younger him sighed. Naruto glanced at him and found that tears were leaking out of his eyes.

"Us…" Naruto murmured. Facing his younger self, Naruto came to a decision, "You couldn't stop him from leaving…and neither could I. Not by ourselves. When apart we achieve nothing, we do nothing but arrive at the fate we were running away from."

His younger self gazed imploringly up at him. "So we…?"

"Work together." Naruto offered his hand, his younger self taking it eagerly. Very suddenly there was a blindingly bright light, and there Naruto sat. There was no more 'younger him'. A smattering of emotions, and memories filled him to the brim. Fit to burst he stared around at this empty corridor. He felt quite…quite tired, and old. A combination of two lifetimes better give him the wisdom to keep Sasuke. He was ready.

He opened his eyes. He was back. He was smarter, wiser, and most importantly he was in control. Naruto sat up and pushed himself up off the bed. He walked calmly out of the room and across the hall into the kitchen. Deftly, he picked up the phone and punched in Sakura's number. He would tell them that the infection was dead. Everything had gone according to plan. And then…and then, Sasuke and he would have a perfectly normal life. Everything would be fine….

_**Fin**_


End file.
